The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Jacksonville District awarded a $7 million contract on July 28, 2020, to Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. of Omaha, Neb., for the Ponce De Leon Inlet North Jetty Rehabilitation and Aid to Navigation Replacement Project at Ponce de Leon Inlet in Volusia County, Fla.
The Ponce de Leon Inlet north jetty was significantly damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Irma in 2017, with some 100 feet of the original structure being completely degraded in the wake of the storms, said USACE.
In addition, a permanent Aid to Navigation (ATON) installed at the jetty’s most seaward point by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) was displaced by storm surge.
The project will repair portions of the 4,000-foot long jetty by relocating some of its remaining original stones, and placing some 2,000 specially quarried new stones.
According to USACE, benefits of the reconstructed jetty will include better control of natural erosion flows across the inlet channel, which can negatively impact safe navigation and increase sediment deposition in the channel, thereby reducing the frequency of costly maintenance dredging.
Construction will include a new, USCG-funded, ATON at the seaward end of the jetty.