Posted on March 6, 2024
Jacksonville District Awards Contract for Duval Beach Restoration
USACE Jacksonville awarded a $32.4 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 Co. line.
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.
Operations are projected to begin by the end of March, 2024, and be complete by the end of July. USACE Jacksonville will advise the public of the start and progress of the re-nourishment through its social media channels.
The project will be 100 percent federally funded through Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies monies.
Duval County Shore Protection Historical Background
The Duval County Shore Protection Project was initially constructed in 1978-80 and includes approximately 10 miles of coastline in northeast Florida. Specific areas include Naval Station Mayport, Hanna Park, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach. Since then, six principal renourishments have been completed (1985-87, 1991, 1995, 2005, 2011 and 2016-17) in addition to periodic placement of maintenance-dredged sand along the Naval Station Mayport coastline.
Jacksonville District is presently producing plans and specifications for an emergency renourishment, which will address the impacts of two 2022 tropical storms, Ian and Nicole. Required permitting and certification by the Corps and its partner agencies are scheduled to be complete in September 2023. The Corps expects to award a contract for beach renourishment in December 2023 and construction will be completed in August 2024 (weather pending).
Beach renourishment typically takes place every five to six years in order to maintain beaches at their original design dimensions as part of the project. The renourishment is funded in partnership with the City of Jacksonville, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and Duval County, with 38.4 percent of funding provided by the local partners and 61.6 percent by the federal government. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the project throughout its 50-year lifecycle which ends in 2040.
The goal of engineered shore projects is to reduce risk and promote coastal resilience. Shore projects help to reduce the damages – economic, environmental, infrastructure, human health and safety – of tropical storms and hurricanes. Thousands of residents and businesses in Duval County benefit from this shore project because storm events erode the beach rather than destroying coastal infrastructure. Coastal communities with engineered beaches have historically fared much better than other communities as documented by numerous studies.
Each renourishment corresponds to an engineer-designed template so that when storms occur, they affect the sand placement in the template and reduce impacts to the underlying beach foundation and landside infrastructure. The engineering design, informed by wave and tidal flow analysis, makes best use of the natural system to preserve sand on the beach.
Along with protecting coastal economic stability and recreational opportunities, beach nourishment projects also provide inherent benefits in restoring critical marine and shorebird habitat. It provides more sand for endangered sea turtles, which normally nest on the same beach where they hatch, to find sufficient areas for nesting. Several species of shorebirds also nest along the beach. And, of course, the beach is essential to the area’s economic driver, tourism.
Authority: Section 103 of Public Law 89‐298, Oct. 27, 1965, authorizes the entire SPP.
Authorized: 1965
First Constructed: 1980
Expires: 2040
Cost share: 61.6% federal and 38.4% non-federal
