Acquiring and perpetually maintaining spoil areas for the deposit of “spoil” from the dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway was one of the principal statutory tasks imposed upon the Florida Inland Navigation (FIND) when the Federal Government accepted the old Florida East Coast Canal, now the Intracoastal Waterway, in 1929.
This aerial photo shows the progress in engineering and constructing one such spoil management area in the Intracoastal Waterway in Volusia County. In planning and engineering these areas, FIND must balance the expense of acquiring the site, especially if a site cannot be found within a reasonable distance of the dredging, against the benefits of acquiring it, the environmental impacts of creating such a site, and if the management area is within the ICW, FIND must assess the impacts on the navigational servitude or the right of other vessels to pass the area easily.
FIND may also assess secondary benefits such as creating a boating park, with docking for boating and restroom facilities, playground equipment, water pools for snorkeling, picnic tables, and environmental education displays. Courtesy, Taylor Engineering, Jacksonville, Fla.
Florida’s Big Dig 