The South Lake Worth Inlet, also known as the Boynton Inlet, is an artificial cut through a

barrier beach Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few is ...

connecting the south end of the

Lake Worth Lagoon The Lake Worth Lagoon is a lagoon located in Palm Beach County, Florida. It runs parallel to the coast, and is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier beaches, including Palm Beach Island. The lagoon is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by tw ...

Palm Beach County, Florida Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and Broward County, Florida, Broward County ...

with the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The inlet is wide and deep.

Geography

The South Lake Worth Inlet, at coordinates , is bordered on the north by the town of Manalapan and on the south by the town of Ocean Ridge. Ocean Inlet Park, owned by Palm Beach County, extends from the ocean to the lagoon on the south side of the inlet, and covers . Boynton Inlet

History

In the mid-19th century Lake Worth Lagoon was a fresh water lake with no connection to the ocean. After the Lake Worth Inlet was cut near the north end of the lagoon in 1866 (with intermittent closures and re-openings until 1886), the lagoon became increasingly

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

. Development around the lagoon polluted it, as well. By 1913 residents of the area were discussing opening another inlet from the south end of the lagoon to help flush polluted waters into the ocean. The State of Florida created a taxing district for the South Lake Worth Inlet in 1915 (the taxing district was abolished in 1996, and Palm Beach County assumed responsibility for maintaining the inlet). Construction of the inlet began in 1925. The new inlet was completed in 1927 at a cost of $225,000, and was wide and deep (below mean low water). As happens generally to inlets on the Florida east coast, the predominantly southward

longshore drift Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle, shells) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle of incoming w ...

caused sand to accumulate against the north jetty of the inlet, and eventually spill over into the inlet and into the Lake Worth Lagoon. The same process also caused erosion of the beach south of the inlet. The height of the inlet jetties was raised, and, in 1937, a sand transfer plant (the first such plant anywhere) was installed on the north jetty to pump sand past the inlet. The transfer plant pumped an average of sand past the inlet in the next five years. The transfer plant was shut down during World War II due to fuel shortages, and sand again accumulated in the inlet and the lagoon. Following World War II, sand transfer was resumed, and dredging of the accumulated shoals in the inlet and the lagoon began. In 1967 the south jetty was extended and a curved extension was added to the north jetty. The sand transfer plant was upgraded in 1948, 1967 and 1998, and rebuilt in 2011.

Navigation

State Road A1A crosses the inlet on a fixed-span bridge above the water. The depth of the inlet is between and . The inlet was never intended for navigation, but is used by recreational boaters. The inlet has a reputation of being dangerous due to shoaling, strong currents and close clearances. There were more than 46,000 boat trips through the inlet in 2006. Seven boats required rescue in the inlet that year.

References

{{Coastal Waters of Florida Inlets of Florida Bodies of water of Palm Beach County, Florida