Posted on July 10, 2023
USACE Jacksonville is pleased to announce the award of a $20.2 million contract June 30, 2023, to Weeks Marine Inc. of Covington, La., for emergency renourishment of the St. Johns County Coastal Storm Risk Management Project (Vilano Beach).
The project will renourish approximately 3 miles of shoreline along portions of south Ponte Vedra and Vilano Beaches in St. Johns County between FDEP Range Monuments R-102.5 and R-117.5. to restore sand loss due to the November 2021 nor’easter and Hurricanes Ian and Nicole.
The project includes construction of both a dune and beach berm. Planting of dune vegetation will take place as constructed segments are completed. Sand placed on the beach will be dredged from a borrow area that lies in federal waters approximately 7 nautical miles offshore. As an approved Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies project, the beach renourishment will be 100 percent federally funded.
Weeks Marine is expected to begin mobilizing equipment to the beach in mid-August using the designated staging areas at Surfside Park and along Euclid Avenue. Actual sand placement is expected to start a few weeks later in September 2023. The renourishment completion date is projected to be in March 2024.
USACE requests residents in the project area to finish all repairs to walkovers and seawalls in accordance with federal, state and local regulations before operations commence. Residents are also requested to remove all temporary furniture, athletic equipment and similar items from the top and seaward sections of their dunes. This will facilitate planting vegetation in the restored areas to strengthen the dunes.
As the renourishment begins and progresses, USACE will post updated maps and scheduling information on its social media sites to alert residents to upcoming activity, as will St. Johns County. See the social media links below and the USACE project page at https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/StJohnsVilanoCSRM/.
Jacksonville District Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JacksonvilleDistrict
Jacksonville District Twitter: www.twitter.com/JaxStrong
St. Johns County Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SJCFL
St. Johns County Twitter: https://twitter.com/StJohnsCounty
For more information concerning USACE studies and projects, please visit www.saj.usace.army.mil.
