The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Jacksonville has announced the award of a $20.2 million contract on June 30 to Weeks Marine Inc. of Covington, Louisiana, for emergency renourishment of the St. Johns County Coastal Storm Risk Management Project at Vilano Beach.
The project will renourish approximately three miles of shoreline along portions of South Ponte Vedra and Vilano beaches 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 seven nautical miles offshore. As an approved Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies project, the beach renourishment will be 100% 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. 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/.
For more information concerning USACE studies and projects, go to saj.usace.army.mil.
