Vilano Beach renourishment done

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District team conducting the re-nourishment of Vilano Beach, St. Johns Co., has completed placement of some 1.1 million cubic yards of sand along the three-mile reach of critically eroded shoreline.

Photo courtesy of USACE

Sand was dredged from an offshore, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management designated borrow area and pumped on to the beach, where it was transported via a pipeline and distributed by heavy equipment.

The ocean shoreline of St. Johns County is approximately 42 miles long. The initial construction of the Coastal Storm Risk Management Project, completed in 2021, included both dune and beach berm construction along some 2.6 miles of the coastline from South Ponte Vedra Beach to Vilano Beach.

Approximately 1.3 million cubic yards of sand, dredged from shoals within St. Augustine Inlet, were placed on shore.

The latest beach nourishment, which addressed the 2022 impact of Tropical Storms Ian and Nicole, has been 100 percent funded by the federal government under a Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies authority.