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Peanut Island is located along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway east of the Port of Palm Beach and adjacent to the city of Palm Beach. The Island was created in 1918 as the result of construction of the inlet, which opens the Intracoastal Waterway (Lake Worth) to the Atlantic Ocean. Over the years Peanut Island has played a key role in dredge management of Palm Beach Harbor and the Intracoastal. The Island has served as a home for the US Coast Guard and the historic Kennedy Bunker, a presidential safe house during the 1962 Cuban-missile crisis.

Peanut Island is owned and operated by the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND), The Port of Palm Beach and Palm Beach County. Since the early 1990s an ongoing design process for the future of Peanut Island has been in development. In 2003 a team of environmental and construction engineers led by the US Army Corps selected a proposal submitted by California based Civil and Marine contractor J.E. McAmis to undertake a massive environmental restoration of Peanut Island and subsequent creation of the Snook Islands Natural Area.

The project broke ground in June of 2003 with an estimated three (3) year construction schedule.

Environmental Challenges

Peanut Island and the surrounding waterways are abundant with marine animal and plant life. The proximity of Peanut Island to the Gulf Stream makes the area one of the finest for fishing and diving anywhere in the world. The pristine waters brought to shore by the swift moving Gulf Stream make even the slightest bit of turbidity in the water visible for hundreds of feet. Many species of marine life including Sea Turtles, Manatees, Johnson’s Sea Grass, and Mangroves inhabit the waters surrounding Peanut Island. The very nature of the environment around the Island and the general purpose of the entire project mandated that each employee treat environmental issues on the same level as safety.

Project Execution

The first order of business on Peanut Island was to remove any non-native or invasive vegetation from the project sites. This removal included clearing, grubbing and chipping over 40 ac. of densely foliated land. More than 80% of the vegetation removed was recycled as mulch and spread through many of the proposed Maritime Hammock areas or used as a slope stabilizer in defoliated areas.

Excavation began immediately after enough land had been cleared to operate heavy equipment. The earthmoving consisted of excavation and transportation of materials approximately 10 mi. south on the Intracoastal Waterway to the Snook Islands natural area site. Earth was moved by hydraulic excavators, trucks and scrapers, transported to the Westside of the Island and placed into a hopper which fed a conveyor system set-up for barge loading.

Read the Full Article in World Dredging Mining & Construction, July 2005 (PDF)