St. Johns County Shore Protection and Restoration

Project Description

In May 1999, St. Johns County selected Taylor Engineering to act as the county’s agent for this federally sponsored beach restoration project. Taylor Engineering modified the federal project design and obtained a joint coastal permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The project assessed all coastal processes within the project area and the immediate vicinity; mapped shoreline features with GPS/GIS; modified the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers design; achieved local, state, and federal governmental consensus on responsibilities, funding, and cost-sharing levels; defined a sand source; and minimized environmental impacts. Construction was completed December 2002 and the project was instrumental in preventing significant damage to shorefront property during hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004. In response to the tremendous impacts of the 2004 hurricanes, Taylor Engineering acquired a major modification to the joint coastal permit and conducted a borrow area impact analysis to define a site which minimizes impacts to fronting beaches. The beach was renourished in 2005 and together, both projects placed over 6,000,000 cubic yards of sand dredged from the St. Augustine Inlet ebb shoal. Taylor Engineering has been monitoring the beach since 2003. In 2001, Taylor Engineering designed and permitted beach and dune restoration at Anastasia State Park to tie-in with the federal shore protection project immediately south. Uncertainties about the ability of the federal government to construct its project, a result of funding constraints, prompted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to act independently to ensure completion of the project within the park. To this end, Taylor Engineering designed the project and, within a month, obtained a USACE permit to proceed. Taylor Engineering responsibilities included beach and dune design, federal and state permitting, development of project plans and specifications, and construction observation services. Construction ended in July 2002 with the placement of about 400,000 cubic yards of sand.