St. Johns County beach restoration project completed ahead of schedule

St. Johns County completed a beach restoration project ahead of schedule this week. Photo via St. Johns County.

 A major Northeast Florida beach restoration project has wrapped up just as Summer is hitting its stride and way ahead of schedule.

The shoreline renourishment project that cost about $40  million along the northern shore of the Atlantic Ocean in St. Johns County was completed this week. The beach restoration work ran for about nine miles from the Duval County line south into the residential areas of Ponte Vedra Beach ending at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Reserve.

The restoration project began in March and involved placing more than 2 million cubic yards of sand onto eroded beaches in that area. The work by contractor Weeks Marine was originally scheduled to last into August but concluded this week.

“We’re really excited that this project went the way that it did,” St. Johns County Coastal Environment Project Manager Sloane Stephens said in a prepared statement. “It’s been on such an expedited schedule, and our contractor, Weeks Marine, has done a spectacular job with trying to get things done as fast as possible, and we’re really excited that this project will be complete before the end of peak hurricane season in Ponte Vedra.”

About $30.6 million of the cost of the project was paid for with state legislative funds and grants.

In addition to restoring the shoreline with sand for human use, St. Johns County officials said there were additional environmental benefits to the beach renourishment project.

“The project has also created additional environmental habitat for wildlife, enhanced the recreational value of the beach, and provided substantial coastline fortifications, including dune reconstruction between 13 and 18 feet, beach berm elevation of eight feet, and beach width increase of 40 to 180 feet post-construction,” a county news release said.

While the northern shoreline of St. Johns County has been restored, another beach renourishment project is ongoing south near St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach. About $30 million in federal, state and local funding is paying for the beach renourishment running from about Anastasia State Park into St. Augustine Beach near A Street.

The project in the St. Augustine Beach area is being overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the contractor Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. is conducting the work that is projected to be completed this fall. It will involve adding about 800,000 cubic yards of sand to that area.