A 400-acre island built from Tampa Harbor dredging became a nesting refuge for birds decades later

In the late 1970s, Florida engineers had a simple problem: Tampa Bay had to be deepened, and the dredging needed a location. The answer was a 400-acre island in Hillsborough Bay. IInitially, the island was created as a placement site for dredged material, but over time it became an important nesting habitat for coastal birds, a transformation documented by the Army Corps of Engineers. The island, known as Dredge Material Placement Facility 3-D, was created between 1978 and 1982 as part of efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the harbor and manage dredged material. This example demonstrates how the construction of infrastructure intended for commercial shipping can also support wildlife when the resulting landscape provides suitable habitat.

A construction project that created an accidental habitat

Dredging is essential in order to keep shipping channels deep enough so that cargo vessels can travel safely. When sediment builds up at the bottoms of watercourses, workers take away the accumulated material and transport it to disposal sites. In Tampa Harbor, dredging created new land that eventually served a purpose beyond navigation and harbor operations. The island lies next to the federal navigation channel where large vessels travel to and from the port. The dike secures the dredged materials while keeping the island suitable for its intended purpose. Because the island is separated from the mainland and less accessible to people, birds can use it as an undisturbed nesting site.


Why birds choose a manmade island

The island’s open ground and shoreline provide nesting areas for birds from nearby coastal regions. The presence of water also helps in providing the birds and other species with food sources that depend on coastal environments during their breeding seasons. The value of Florida’s dredged-material islands has been recognized through earlier research as well. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report examining dredged-material islands in Florida found that these sites supported multiple species of colonial sea and wading birds, along with other non-colonial bird species. Although those findings do not measure the individual contribution of Tampa’s island, they demonstrate how sites created through dredging can provide habitat for a variety of bird species.

Managing industry and conservation together

There is still a connection between the island and Tampa Harbor. The facility still has to perform engineering maintenance work because of routine work on the navigation channels and the supply of new material through dredging. Therefore, in 2014, the Army Corps began increasing the island’s capacity by raising its dike. This project required authorities to be mindful of breeding birds during site upgrade operations. Any construction work must be done while taking wildlife into consideration, which would allow carrying out all necessary work with minimal disturbance to breeding birds already on the territory.

Projects like this one require cooperation between engineers and biologists. Monitoring the bird behavior gives an opportunity to understand how birds utilize their habitat and adjust their maintenance plans. The challenge is maintaining the island’s function for harbor operations while protecting the environment that attracts thousands of birds. It is necessary to keep land ready for harbor operations, though preserving the nests and proper management of the site contribute to successful harbor management.

Originally created to store dredged material from harbor improvements, the island has since become an important nesting site for hundreds of coastal birds. Originally created to store dredged material from harbor improvements, the island has since become an important nesting site for hundreds of coastal birds.