- November 23, 2024
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USACE project manager Jason Harrah said gives an update on the beach renourishment project. Photo by Sierra Williams
The sand that will be dredged, in stages, from the sea bed offshore for the renourishment project. Photo by Sierra Williams
A public information meeting on the renourishment and pier reconstruction projects was held at the Santa Maria Del Mar Catholic Church in Flagler Beach. Photo by Sierra Williams
A rendering of the reconstructed Flagler Beach pier design. Courtesy of Moffatt & Nichol design firm
Moffatt & Nichol project manager Gabriel Perdomo. Photo by Sierra Williams
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Flagler Beach renourishment project is set to begin July 1 and could finish one month before the pier reconstruction project begins work in November.
Technically, USACE project manager Jason Harrah said, the contractor has until March 2025 to complete the entire project, per its construction contract. But the Army Corps’ project needs to finish constructing the areas surrounding the pier before the pier reconstruction work will begin.
The pier reconstruction is estimated to take until April 2026 to complete.
The Army Corps team, alongside representatives from the pier design firm Moffatt & Nichol and the Florida Department of Transportation, gave an update on their projects at a public meeting on June 25 at the Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church in Flagler Beach.
“This is an optimistic schedule,” Harrah said. “There's weather, there's hurricanes, there's mechanical issues with equipment; but right now, their intention is to be started on July the first and will be completely done with beach placement … by the 29 of September.”
The goal for the duration of the 50-year renourishment contract, Harrah said, is to maintain the project’s 3-mile section of shoreline in Flagler beach at a 60-foot berm — or the “towel space” for beach goers. To do that, he said, the Army Corps is over-filling the berm to 140 feet.
In comparison, the berm area now, depending on the section of the Flagler’s shoreline, varies from nonexistent to minimal, USACE’s Patrick Snyder said. Once the work is completed, Snyder said it will be a dramatic difference from what is there now.
Harrah said much of the 140-feet is meant to be sacrificed in a storm and will act as an extra layer of protection offshore. When the berm becomes less than 60 feet wide, he said, that is what will trigger a renourishment. The three-mile section is contracted to have renourishments every 11 years over the 50-year contract — or more often, Harrah said, if berm is washed out below 60 feet sooner.
If a storm washes the berm out below that threshold, he said, that will trigger an emergency renourishment at 100% federal cost, Harrah said.
One member of the public asked why the beach renourishment project wasn’t delayed until after hurricane season was over. Harrah said that it used to be that way, but now there is a much higher demand for the beach renourishment projects, but only four or five companies in the United States that are allowed to perform the work.
“Everybody needs beach renourishment, from here to Boston, and on the west coast,” Harrah said.
The first section completed will be Gamble Rodgers State Park to Snack Jacks Restaurant and construction will take from July 1-5. Section two, Snack Jacks to South 24th Street, will take from July 6-21. Section three will be South 24th Street to South 19th Street, from July 22-Aug. 9. Stage four, South 19th Street to South 13th Street, will go from Aug. 10-31.
The two sections on either side of the Flagler Beach pier — South 13th Street to the pier and then from the north side of the pier to North 7th Street — will be renourished from Sept. 1-17 and Sept. 18-29, respectively.
The sand will be dredged from a section of sea floor several miles off shore and will not be the same as the beach’s current coquina sand, USACE geologist Jennifer Coor said. The texture and shell composition similar to the sand already on the beach, she said, but it is a darker color.
The Army Corps will mix the top layer of on the beach with the new sand as it is deposited to help blend it together, Harrah said.
And eventually, Coor said, the coquina sand will naturally replace the dredged sand, though that will take around one to two years.
“With the exception of the color, it will be nearly identical to what [Flagler Beach residents] have out there,” Coor said.
Harrah said the construction team will be required to update the timeline as each section is completed or if there are any delays. Residents will be able to check the progress of construction at the USACE’s Jacksonville District’s social media accounts. Updates will also be shared by the county, Harrah said.
The new pier will be a total of 800 feet in length, with the first 100 feet to be preserved and restored as the historic wood section. The design, Moffatt & Nichol project manager Gabriel Perdomo said, is meant to protect against both 100- and 500-year storms and also accounts for an increase in sea levels by raising the height of the pier completely.
A conservative timeline places construction taking from November 2024 to April 2026, Perdomo said.
The new pier will be raised 10 feet — from 18 feet high to 28 feet — with an ADA-compliant ramp connecting the two heights, Perdomo said. The reconstructed pier will be built on precast, concrete pilings spaced 40 feet apart.
The contractor will be responsible to removing any debris in the water — like broken pilings — that interfere with building the new pier.
To further protect the pier’s integrity, the firm will also install 700-pound, break-away deck panels along the new 700 feet of pier. Break-away panels are much less expensive to replace and help protect the pier’s structure, he said.
“Most of the force that is experienced in these piers and what causes a lot of the damage is that uplift force when these weights come through,” Perdomo said.
The width of the pier will be extended to 25 feet, with a 20-by-35-foot “T head” at the end of the pier, complete with potable water and fish cleaning stations. The reconstructed pier will also have sea turtle-safe lighting and shaded areas.
Four companies are in the pre-qualification phase before the project goes out to bid: Manson Construction Co., Orion Marina Construction, Inc., Shoreline Foundation, Inc. and Vecellio & Grogan, Inc.
Once the bid documents are reviewed by Federal Emergency Management Agency, the project will open for bids in August. The contract will be awarded in September or October and construction will begin in November to December, Perdomo said.
By building a temporary beach access on the south side of the pier and a temporary pier that runs parallel to the Flagler Beach pier, Perdomo said they hope to keep the construction’s impact on local businesses, residents and tourists to a minimum.
A few parking spaces between South 3rd and 4th Streets will be used as a staging area for construction materials, he said.
“Other than that, we don't expect there to be any disruption of vehicular traffic or any additional parking that will be taken during that time,” he said.
The temporary trestle will also prevent damage to what will be the newly renourished dunes and beach by keeping construction materials off the beach, he said.
“We don't expect that there's going to be any impact to the dune from the construction of the trestle or the new pier,” Perdomo said.
