Deep pit aimed at saving beaches

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Officials in Florida's Broward County want to blast a 7-acre sand hole into the ocean floor to help save the county's southern beaches from erosion.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said the pit, which would be 49 feet deep, would trap sand that builds up in entrance channel to Port Everglades and on beaches to the north. A barge would periodically scoop up the sand and dump it on the beach at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park. The sand would gradually wash onto Dania Beach, Hollywood and Hallandale Beach.

The plan must be approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers, the newspaper said.