Beach construction completed Aug. 29, 2024

The USACE Jacksonville District Flagler County Coastal Storm Risk Management project in Flagler Beach will temporarily close and re-route traffic along and adjacent to SRS A1A beginning Friday, Aug. 30, at 6 a.m. to relocate heavy equipment south of Flagler Beach Pier. Closures and detours are projected to be restored within 2-4 hours.

A small section of SR A1A will be temporarily closed with traffic detoured for the early morning hours. The closure is similar to the one executed Aug. 22 to move the equipment to the north side of the pier. Please comply with all on-site signage and directions, and exercise driving caution and courtesy to ensure public safety.

Once the equipment reaches the beach south of the pier, A1A will be reopened to traffic. When the movement is complete, the contractor will remove temporary sand ramps and replace temporarily removed sections of the boardwalk as it begins to demobilize its equipment ahead of project completion.

The newly constructed beach and dune system will serve as the first line of defense against future storm events and sea level rise. The Flagler Co. CSRM project is constructed to “sacrifice” its protective buffer with loss of sand to protect infrastructure, including residential and commercial properties, the SR A1A and various critical public facilities. Other significant benefits of the constructed shoreline will include expanded recreational beach opportunities for residents and visitors, and critical nesting habitat for sea turtles and shorebirds.

USACE Jacksonville District, Flagler Co., FDOT and the City of Flagler Beach have coordinated closely to ensure the beach nourishment is completed ahead of the mid-October deadline to start pier rehabilitation efforts. Thank you for bearing with this temporary inconvenience to create a significant future public good for all.

USACE Jacksonville District awarded a $27 million contract May 2, 2024, to Weeks Marine, Inc., of Cranford, New Jersey, for initial construction of the Flagler County, Florida, Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) project.
USACE will provide 65 percent of the total project costs and Flagler County, Florida, the project’s non-federal sponsor, will provide 35 percent of the beach construction along 3.5 miles of the county’s critically eroded Atlantic shoreline. Additional sections of the coastline will also be renourished both north and south of the federal project as part of this contract using non-federal funding.
The Flagler County CSRM project is a federally authorized, 50-year project designed to provide sustainable coastal storm risk management for property, critical infrastructure such as evacuation route SR A1A, and environmental habitat while providing recreational opportunities for residents and tourists.
When constructed, the project will provide a holistic, environmentally friendly defense against future storms, beach erosion and sea level rise. It will foster a more resilient coastal environment, allowing faster and less costly recovery in the wake of any future severe storm impacts. Upon completion of initial construction, the project will become eligible for emergency beach renourishment following significant storm events at 100 percent federal cost.
Initial construction is projected to take approximately nine months beginning in June 2024 with completion in March 2025, pending unforeseeable weather delays, and will encompass beach placement of approximately 1.3 million cubic yards of compatible material dredged from a federally managed borrow source approximately 12 miles offshore. Periodic nourishment is expected to occur in 11-year cycles determined by the extent of storm impact, wave erosion and sea level rise.
The project will include construction and extension of the coastal dune and berm (open beach) based on pre-Hurricane Matthew dimensions. Native beach slopes and grades will be maintained, resulting in a wider beach berm for recreation and storm protection.
The dune extension will be planted with native vegetation to promote dune stability and provide an expanded forage and habitat environment for a number of threatened and endangered species  including nesting sea turtles and a variety of shorebirds.
During construction, the contractor will also place sand on, under and around public and private walkovers to maintain a continuous, protective dune profile. The sand will naturally settle and expose walkover steps over time.To ensure public safety, beach access will be restricted in the active construction zone (typically 500- 1500-foot long sections), but will remain open elsewhere along the beach. Sand ramps will be placed over shoreline pipelines approximately every 200-300 feet to ease beachgoer access to the water.
The USACE project will proceed in parallel with other non-federal projects along the Flagler Beach shoreline including a Florida Department of Transportation secant wall project, future asphalt paving and related activities. USACE and other public agencies will coordinate and advertise necessary road and access closures and detours as the simultaneous projects make progress. The public is requested to observe and comply with required access and traffic flow changes to ensure public safety.
Construction will take place 24 hours a day, seven days a week with staging and beach access points located at Veterans Park, 6th Street South and to the south of the Pebble Beach HOA beachfront property. USACE, Flagler Co. and the City of Flagler Beach will provide an initial progress map to be followed with weekly to ensure the public can stay up to date on progress and projected dates for each area to be under construction and completed.

Beach Construction Complete!
With over 1.7 million cubic yards of sand placed in less than two months, this project stands ready to protect upland infrastructure including SRA1A and adjacent properties from damaging storms and sea level rise. In addition, the recreational benefits and critical nesting habitat for shorebirds and nesting sea turtles the beach construction has created is vital to a thriving ecosystem. The new beach will evolve with tidal changes and future storm events, but natural accretion will also occur as mother nature shapes the new shoreline and moves sand back onto the dry beach. Enjoy the new beach and long holiday weekend!   

Jacksonville District
Corporate Communications Office
904-616-0036 /// 904-232-2568

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District, invites the public to attend a presentation and open discussion ahead of initial construction of the Flagler County Coastal Storm Risk Management beach project.
The presentation begins at 6 p.m. next Tuesday, June 25, at the Santa Maria del Mar Church, 915 N. Central Ave. in Flagler Beach. USACE staff experts will discuss the engineering, environmental and construction elements of the project, take questions and chat informally with the public.
City of Flagler Beach and Florida Department of Transportation officials will also present updates on the Flagler Beach Fishing Pier rehabilitation project, and related secant wall construction and repaving of SR A1A.
No registration or reservation is necessary. All are welcome, please join us!