Army Corps gets ready for $20M beach restoration project in Nassau County

Nassau County will get a significant beach makeover now that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, has approved a $20-million contract for the work.

This month, the Army Corps gave the go-ahead to the work agreement with Marinex Construction Co. Inc., of Charleston, South Carolina. The “Nassau County Shore Protection Project” will begin May 25. The Army Corps will provide 100% of the funding for the project costs.

“When constructed, the project will provide a holistic defense against future storms, beach erosion and sea level rise. It will foster a more resilient coastline, allowing more efficient and less costly recovery in the wake of any future severe storm impacts, significantly increasing the protection of homes, businesses and infrastructure from coastal storms, while saving taxpayer money,” an Army Corps press release said.

The Nassau County beach restoration will run along much of the Fernandina Beach beachfront. The renourishment will start at Fernandina Beach and run south to the St. Mary entrance channel. It’s about a 4-mile stretch of coast. Much of the sand used for pumping onto the beach will be dredged from the South Channel Burrow area, just south of the St. Mary entrance channel, about 3 miles offshore.

The project area will see equipment staged in Dolphin Avenue, and construction will run all hours of every day until it’s complete. According to Army Corps officials, it’s expected to be finished in November.

The Nassau County renourishment is the latest in the Army Corps’ beach restoration projects along the Northeast Florida coast. Similar beach renourishment projects were completed in 2024 in Duval County to the immediate south of Nassau and St. Johns County, which borders Duval.

Last year, $32.4 million was spent on the beach renourishment project that ran along most of Duval County’s Atlantic Ocean beachfront.

Meanwhile, $70 million was spent on beach restoration projects in St. Johns County in 2024. Much of that work was on the northern coastline of St. Johns, covering most of the Ponte Vedra Beach area. The other project ran along Anastasia Island and into St. Augustine Beach.