Rodolfo Elizondo Torres, Mexican Secretary of Tourism, announced today that the long awaited beach restoration project for Cancun will go ahead as planned on July 15. Mexicana de Dragados S.A. de C.V., the company which won the contract, will now start to move its dredgers and equipment into the area and prepare to assemble its pipelines in August.
The dredging, transport and pumping of almost seven million cubic meters of sand onto the beaches is expected to start in September and the project will be completed by mid-December, in time for the high season.
The replenishment of 12 kilometers of beach in the Cancun Hotel Zone and similarly affected stretches of the coast in Playa del Carmen and Cozumel is a national priority and given its importance, the authorities decided to press on with the project this summer and not wait until later in the year.
The project will cost around $74.6 million dollars which will be managed through a trust by the Mexican Tourist Board, federal, state and municipal governments and private sector representatives.
Experts working for Semarnat, the Mexican Environmental Agency, have been carrying out studies along the shoreline and in the area of sand banks where the dredging will take place and will be monitoring the project closely. Special measures will be taken to protect sea turtles and conch during the season and geo textile nets will also be used to prevent sediment from damaging the coral colonies on local reefs.
The first stage of the project is to restore the beaches of Cancun to a width of 40 meters and 20 meters in Cozumel and Playa del Carmen, respectively, and it will be followed by a 10-year monitoring and maintenance program.
An official timeline and details have yet to be released by the authorities and we will continue to update you as we receive more information on this important project, one that so many of you have been asking about in recent months.
Sources: SECTUR
