- April 23, 2024
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The United States Army Corps of Engineers project in Flagler Beach could begin in May 2024, using four times as much sand as originally estimated in 2014.
County Engineer Faith Alkhatib and Jason Harrah, a senior planner with the Army Corps, gave a joint update on the beach renourishment project at the Flagler County Commission meeting on May 1. A new, tentative schedule is in place, but because continued erosion has degraded the original work staging areas, more temporary construction easements are needed before work can begin.
The Corps was originally planning to stage equipment at the water tower in Flagler Beach as an access point, Harrah said. Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, however, have since eroded that point to where it is no longer accessible with equipment.
Now, at extremely low tide you have three or four feet of water hitting the edge of the dune. — Jason Harrah, senior planner with the Army Corps of Engineers
“Now, at extremely low tide you have three or four feet of water hitting the edge of the dune,” Harrah said. “Plus there's about a 10-foot vertical drop there that wasn't there before.”
To avoid damaging equipment, the Corps will need to build up the beach, placing fill, just to access the southern portion of the project. The county will need to bear 100% of that cost, Harrah said, because providing access to the land is part of the sponsor's requirements in the contract.
The Corps provided several options for staging at the southern edge of the project, but Alkhatib said the best option for the county is likely going to be getting temporary staging access from the Pebble Beach Homeowners Association and build up the beach from there. The county will also need temporary construction easement access from properties along the north side of the county.
Not including the staging costs, the project totals at almost $32.3 million, of which the county is responsible for $11.3 million. The county has $14.3 million in available grant money that will cover that portion, but the Pebble Beach option for staging is an additional $5.5 million in cost.
In total, the county will need to find almost $2.5 million to cover the remainder of the staging construction costs.
If everything goes to plan, the new tentative construction start date is May 2024 with construction complete by January 2025, depending on weather conditions. The schedule can’t be finalized though, Harrah said, until the Corps has the permissions it needs for the staging area.
The Army Corps project has been in the works for over twenty years now when the initial study began in 2002. The project was first approved in 2014 to place 330,000 cubic yards of sand on a 2.6-mile stretch in Flagler Beach from 6th Street to 28th Street. Since then, the county has experienced continued erosion and seen five major hurricanes.
Before the renourishment project could begin, the county needed to obtain perpetual easements for all of the properties along the length of the project. It wasn’t until April of 2023 that the county managed to secure the last easement.
The Corps pulled the project for a redesign in January and now, Harrah said, the same area needs 1,300,000 cubic yards of sand.
“The beauty of our projects,” he said, “once you complete an initial construction, you're in the federal program for 50 years.”
Harrah said the Corps’ standards are to bring the dunes up to 19 feet in height, level with State Road A1A. The project will also ensure a 40 to 60-foot berm — the section of the beach where people can lay their towels, between the sea and the dune — with more berm extending into the ocean.
The Corps’ fill density is so high, Harrah said, so that the fill will last between the renourishments scheduled every 11 years during the 50-year contract. The emergency sand deposits from FEMA, in comparison, only build up the dunes to six cubic yards per foot, Alkhatib said.
While the county will only be responsible for maintaining the area between scheduled visits, the Corps will come back after storms hit the area to monitor and fix any damage, Harrah said.
“We build back to the same template," he said. "It's 100% federal [funded.]"
The more sand we get out here the better: It's going to make the federal project lasts longer. — Jason Harrah, senior planner with the Army Corps of Engineers
The county is currently placing or planning to place emergency sand along several sections of the the county's shoreline but, Harrah said, that won't interfere with Army Corps project.
“The more sand we get out here," Harrah said, "the better: It's going to make the federal project lasts longer.”
