JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District attended a small ceremony marking the beginning of the Duval County Shore Protection Project at the Jacksonville Beach.
Col. James Booth, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District Commander met with Jacksonville City Mayor Donna Deegan, and area beach Mayors Curtis Ford from Atlantic Beach, Christine Hoffman from Jacksonville Beach, Elaine Brown from Neptune Beach and U.S. Rep. John Rutherford to officially inaugurate the $32.4 million beach renourishment, talk about the importance of the beach renourishment project and the timing and construction schedule.
“We are really excited about this project that provides Jacksonville with renourished beaches, protection from storms with revitalizing one of the largest tourist attractions in the area,” said Booth.
The Corps of Engineers awarded a $32 million contract Dec. 18, 2023, to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., LLC, of Houston, Texas, for re-nourishment of approximately 10 miles of the Duval Co. Atlantic shoreline. The Shore Protection Project, Beach Renourishment 2024, Duval Co., Florida, the restoration will reinforce critically eroded beach within the municipalities of Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach, extending from the St. Johns River to the Duval-St. Johns County line.
Deegan talked about the history of the city’s partnership with the Corps, the impact and implications of storms during hurricane season. She said this is the first renourishment project for Duval County beaches since 2019 and it will help protect homes and businesses near the ocean and will allow for a friendly environment for sea turtles.
She said that construction is starting now due to the upcoming sea turtle nesting season and the timeline of the contracting process.
“I talked to the folks that are back and forth on turtle patrol because I was concerned about that and what’s happening with that, even though normally they’re not supposed to move the nest, they’re not allowed to touch the nest because they want that to be a more natural process of what survives and what doesn’t," said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. "At this point in this process, they will be able to move certain nests into places that will be safer.”
The plan is to widen the beach berm between 20 to 60 feet and to raise the beach by about 3 to 5 feet. Renourishment will take place 24 hours a day except for the Fourth of July. Booth said crews will not spend more than a few days in one area.
Other mayors of the Beaches spoke briefly, expressing gratitude on how the renourishment project getting done will protect the future of homes and businesses here on the First Coast.
“When you take a look at what the damage can be that you hear about later, but to actually see it happening was quite an experience," Neptune Beach Mayor Elaine Brown said. "It brought home to me the power of the hurricane, the destruction that can take place just like that.”
The beach re-nourishment includes construction of both a dune and beach berm with sand sourced from a federally administered offshore borrow area. Beach restoration work will include beach tilling, vibration control and monitoring, environmental species monitoring and turbidity monitoring.
The $32 million project is 100 percent federally funded through Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies monies. The project costs and is fully funded by the federal government.
The projects began at 10th Avenue in Jacksonville Beach. The plan is to renourish the beach south to the St. Johns River.
The beaches will remain open during the project with secured sections closed for heavy machinery. Crews will close off about 1,500-foot sections of the beach at a time and will restore about 500 feet, each day. Pedestrian bridges will be laid over the pipes lying on the beach for easier access.
This project also could cause disruptions for sea turtles. The nesting season typically runs from May through October. The project is expected to wrap up in late August.
Jason Harrah, a project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said areas that areas and dunes that are home to sea turtle nests will not be disturbed. He said Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol will be allowed to remove sea turtle eggs and place them in those areas.
“These beaches are home to tons of nesting shorebirds and sea turtles and other critters that use the beach nonstop, so it’s very important,” Harrah said. “We look at it from storm damage reduction and protecting infrastructure from hurricanes, but this beach serves such a purpose for the ecosystem as well, that it’s important that we make sure we keep that balance.”
Harrah said that if a sea turtle nest is discovered outside of the designated areas, then the nest will be roped off and work halted in the immediate area.
Once the renourishment project is done, the beach will be broader and wider, which is more friendly for sea turtles trying to nest, Harrah said.
Deegan said beach renourishment is imperative along 10 miles of coastline in Duval County to help protect residents from the next Hurricane season or storms.
Based on the severity of erosion resulting from those 2022 storm events, the Duval Co. federal shore protection project qualified for comprehensive federal funding of the present renourishment under the congressionally authorized Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies, PL 84-99, as did nearly a dozen similar federal shore protection projects around the state.
On site operations began in early May to place up to 1.3 million cubic yards of sand dredged from federally managed offshore borrow areas on the 10-mile Atlantic coastline stretching from Naval Station Mayport in the north to the Duval-St. Johns Co. line in the south.
“The bottom line is that beach renourishment protects lives, property, and our economy,” said Deegan. “And it’s more than that. Building up the resiliency of our coastline, as I said, builds the resiliency of our communities. The City of Jacksonville values our partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in ensuring the safety of our citizens.
The project will initially place sand while moving south along the beach from the vicinity of 10th Ave. South in Jax Beach to its southern limit, then reverse direction and continue the renourishment moving north. Completion is projected for the end of summer or early fall. Progress updates will be posted to Jacksonville District’s social media channels and to the project webpage – https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Shore-Protection/Duval-County/.
The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District on the district’s website at www.saj.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JacksonvilleDistrict, Twitter at www.twitter.com/JaxStrong, and Instagram at www.instagram.com/jacksonvilledistrict.