Posted on November 4, 2026
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting initial field assessments at the site of four federal shore protection and beach-nourishment management projects — including two on the Treasure Coast — following the recent nor’easter and high king tides that battered Florida’s coast.
The Corps’ Jacksonville District coastal team sent surveyors to the Fort Pierce Shore Protection Project, St. Lucie County Coastal Storm Risk Management Project, Martin County Shore Protection Project and Palm Beach County Shore Protection Project, Jupiter-Carlin Segment, to document current conditions, evaluate erosion and observe damage.
The Army Corps spent nearly $20 million placing sand on the two Treasure Coast beaches alone in the past year.
“The good news is that our beaches are performing as intended, absorbing wave energy and storm surge to keep upland infrastructure and our coastal communities safe,” the Army Corps said a statement.
Army Corps surveys sand loss at Florida beaches
The Army Corps is conducting field observations and reviewing project information and supporting documentation — including before-and-after photographs — of changes to the beach and dune, which will determine whether additional technical evaluation is warranted.
“There has been notable erosion, and the county is currently preparing to do post-storm surveying of these beaches to quantify losses,” St. Lucie County Director of Port, Inlet & Beaches Joshua Revord said. “We will do another round of observations mid-week to get a better idea on the breadth and depth of impacts and to document any post-storm recovery.”
In May, the Army Corps finished placing approximately 400,000 cubic yards of sand along roughly a mile of shoreline immediately south of the Fort Pierce Inlet at a cost about $15 million.
If the Corps analysis indicates there was enough beach erosion to meet the agency’s criteria, it may set in motion a process for local governments to request federal assistance.
“We understand how important these beaches are to the communities they serve and recognize the concerns that follow a significant coastal weather event,” the Army Corps said in its statement. “These site visits are an important first step in understanding the impacts and working with our local partners to determine what comes next.”
Treasure Coast has spent about $190 million on sand renourishment
The ongoing king tide, which battered the Treasure Coast’s shoreline, caused coastal erosion that is expected to push dunes back 4-6 feet at specific beaches in Indian River County, such as Wabasso Beach, according to Coastal Resource Manager Quintin Bergman.
“A lot of people will hook onto the fact that beach renourishment is just adding sand,” Bergman said. “But another way of looking at it with a different lens is that it is coastal restoration.”
The king tide took a bite out of the dunes at Tracking Station Beach Park, up to where dune grass had been planted. The county wrapped up dune restoration in March that added 115,900 cubic yards of sand at a cost about $4.6 million, according to data from the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association.
The cumulative cost of all renourishment projects on the Treasure Coast since 1971 is about $190 million, according to that data.
Martin County beaches ‘holding strong’
In Martin County, the tides and wind have moved some of the 360,000 cubic yards of sand the Army Corps of Engineers placed this past winter and spring on 4 miles of beach on South Hutchinson Island in the northern portion of the county, according to county Coastal Program Manager Jessica Garland. The sand for the $14.6 million project was extracted from the ocean floor some 6.3 miles offshore.
Large amounts of sand were pulled just offshore, but the sand should return to the beach in coming days and weeks, and there is no need to redo the sand project, according to Garland.
On Oct. 31, the county dumped eight truckloads of sand to a small beach that was washed out near the sailing center at Indian River Side Park, to replenish the sand lost there, Garland said.
In January, the county plans to move 650,000 cubic yards of sand that has been at a sand impoundment just off Sailfish Pointe near the mouth of the St. Lucie Inlet to area beaches both north and south of the Inlet, which include Bath Tub Beach and St. Lucie Inlet State Park. The project had been planned prior to the king tide events of October, Garland said.
“Our beaches are holding strong,” Garland said. “We do not have any emergency projects coming out because of this.”
