May 2024
FACT SHEET
Fort Pierce Harbor, FL
Operations & Maintenance (O&M)
Congressional District: 21
1. DESCRIPTION
Fort Pierce Inlet is a man-made tidal inlet located in St. Lucie County on the Atlantic Ocean coastline of Florida. The inlet is located along the northern half of the county’s shoreline and is approximately 6 miles south of the Indian River County line and 15 miles north of the Martin County line. The existing entrance channel is 400 feet wide and 30 feet deep with an interior channel that is 250 feet wide and 28 feet deep, a turning basin that is 1,100 feet square and 28 feet deep, and an access channel that is located immediately north of the main turning basin that is 1,250 feet long, 250 feet wide and 28 feet deep.
Prior to the mid 1980’s, the port handled a considerable volume of cement, oil, minerals, refrigerated citrus and break-bulk cargo. As ships grew larger, the physical limitations of the port drew ships to other ports and the port gradually declined to minimal level of traffic from 1987 to 2003. In 2003, Atlantic Caribbean Line started freight liner service to the Bahamas and other Caribbean Islands, operating through the Indian River Terminal in Fort Pierce with a shutdown service occurring 2013. In 2019, Derecktor Shipyards acquired 12 acres of county-owned land at the port for a period of 30-years to operate a mega-yacht repair center.
2. FUNDING
a. Regular Civil Works Funds:
| Allocation thru FY23 |
$0 |
| Allocation for FY24 |
$0 |
| President's Budget FY25 |
$0 |
a. P.L. 117-43, Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act
| Work Plan |
$10,000,000 |
| Allocation thru FY23 |
$10,000,000 |
3. SPONSOR
St. Lucie County
2300 Virginia Avenue
Fort Pierce, Florida 34982-5652
4. STATUS
The last navigation improvements at Fort Pierce were authorized by the 1988 Water Resource Development Act dated 17 November 1988 and construction was completed in August 1996.
Two separate maintenance contracts occurred during 2014 Calendar year. The May 2014 dredging contract remove 64,100 cubic yards of beach quality material within the federal channel with placement occurring onto the shoreline immediately south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. In the fall of 2014, another contract removed shoaling non-beach quality material from the turning basing with placement 141,494 cubic yards into an approved Ocean Dredge Material Disposal Site (ODMDS). Project is currently under preconstruction engineering design phase with expectation the project will be physically completed by 30 May 25.
