$38M Ponte Vedra beachfill project underway (VIDEO)

St. Johns County (FL) has officially marked the start of the $38.6 million Ponte Vedra Beach Restoration Project with a sandbreaking ceremony at Mickler’s Landing Beachfront Park.

Attending the ceremony were Florida Sen. Travis Hutson, Florida House Rep. Cyndi Stevenson, St. Johns County District 4 Commissioner Krista Joseph, St. Johns County District 5 Commissioner Henry Dean, and St. Johns County Emergency Management Director Joe Giammanco.

“Following the devastation of the 2016 and 2017 hurricane seasons, the Ponte Vedra community and St Johns County recognized the need to nourish the Ponte Vedra section of the beach,” St. Johns County Emergency Management Director Joe Giammanco said.

The project – awarded to Weeks Marine in Feb. – will cost about $38.6 million, out of which approximately $30.6 million is coming from state legislative funding and grants.

Once completed, the Ponte Vedra Beach Restoration Project will restore storm-damaged dunes and berms to provide storm protection to upland infrastructure with more than two million cubic yards of sand dredged in from the ocean.

The project will create additional environmental habitat for wildlife, enhance the recreational value of the beach, and provide substantial coastline fortifications, including dune reconstruction between 13 and 18 feet, beach berm elevation of eight feet, and beach width increase of 40 to 180 feet post-construction.

The project area stretches from the St. Johns-Duval County line to the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve – about nine miles of coastline.