Posted on April 29, 2019
A project to restore about three miles of beach that was hit hard by recent storms in St. Johns County is moving in the right direction.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and St. Johns County signed an agreement Tuesday for the construction.
Hurricanes Matthew and Irma damaged a lot of the coastline from Vilano Beach up to South Ponte Vedra Beach, and the plan is to get started with the new project in May 2020.
“Essentially, what we are doing is replacing that sand that was lost during those storms, rebuilding the dunes to their previous position and also creating about three acres of shorebird and sea turtle nesting habitat,” says Jason Harrah, project manager with the Army Corps.
He says once the project gets started it should take about six months to complete. Right now they are working on the design and obtaining permits.
The initial construction includes placing 1.3 million cubic yards of sand that will be dredged from the St. Augustine Inlet System.
Harrah says the total cost for initial construction is about $26 million. That money is split with the federal government paying for 23 percent and St. Johns County will pay for 77 percent.
There were also be three renourishment projects spaced out by about 12 years each. The funding for those will be split with 17.7 percent federal dollars and the rest handled by the county.
“St. Johns County is a very good sponsor for this project,” Harrah says.
Source: wokv.com
