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Sand Used in Beach Restoration Meets, Exceeds DEP Standards

Posted on: Monday, 13 March 2006, 21:00 CST

By Liza Martin, The Destin Log, Fla.

Mar. 11--John Elkins spends his days with his hands in the sand.

Elkins, along with coworker John Walters, tests and analyzes the quality, shape and size of the sand used to restore Walton County's beaches.

"Everything is going good," Elkins said this week.

The two men are environmental consultants/field technicians employed by Orlando's Ardaman and Associates, the firm responsible for testing and analyzing the sand that the Liberty Island is dredging from the project's borrow site, about a half-mile southwest of Destin's East Pass.

The testing process, called "sieve analysis," is conducted twice a day, seven days a week.

Every eight hours, Elkins and Walters alternately collect a sample of the newly deposited sand from the beach in 500-gram quantities, and then dry it for eight hours in a microwave set at 225 degrees.

From there, the dry sand is deposited into a "sieve shaker," a metal cylinder comprised of 17 pans that sift the sand through increasingly smaller screens.

The sieve shaker shakes the sand for 15 minutes before each pan is examined and its contents recorded.

Elkins enters the weight and debris, such as shells and quartz, onto a sheet that he faxes to Taylor Engineering's Mike Trudnak, the project's engineer.

"We archive every load we test," Elkins said, "in case we have to go back and prove that it was tested."

He also monitors the color of the sand and makes sure each load is up to the standards of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"All of the tests are meeting or exceeding DEP requirements, especially (sand) color," Elkins said, adding that much of the sand has been lighter than required.

If at any time the sand quality does not meet requirements, he project would come to a halt, Elkins said.

"But everything has gone smoothly so far," he said.

When not monitoring or testing sand, Elkins checks for any new project personnel or visitors to the construction site, inspects pipes for leaks, and keeps track of the project's equipment.

"I wanted to be involved in a major beach restoration project because it's for the greater public interest and tourism in the Gulf Coast region. Let's face it, people come here for the sugar-white sand not found in many places, and that's what we're doing -- giving that back to the beaches."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Destin Log, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Destin Log (Destin, Fl.)

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