Photos courtesy of Teri Sopp
February 16, 2015 8:11 a.m.
Heavy equipment was used to place 8 to 10 thousand feet of pipe yesterday on the island’s north end in preparation for the St Marys Inlet dredging project. Although sand removed from the inlet is directed toward the beaches around Fort Clinch State Park, sand is eventually distributed further south benefiting a portion of the Fernandina’s coastline.
According to Olsen Associates, Inc. website, “In the early 1980’s, firm professionals [Olsen Associates] assisted in negotiating a first of its kind Memorandum-Of-Understanding (MOU) among the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (formerly DNR) intended to require the strategic placement of all beach quality sand dredged from a federally constructed and maintained navigation channel at St. Mary’s Entrance on the downdrift shores of Amelia Island, Florida.”
Editor’s Note: “This project will extend from the Fort Clinch Border for about 8000 feet to almost Main Beach,” says Len Kreger who follows beach renourishment activity. “There will also be a smaller project near the Fort. The effects of the longshore transport (littoral drift) should also benefit the beach further south.” Kreger added, “This project over the years provides excellent at almost no cost benefits to the City. It is one of the options, the best I believe, to mitigate any effect of Sea Level Rise.”
This project will extend from the Fort Clinch Border for about 8000 feet to almost Main Beach. There will also be a smaller project near the Fort. The effects of the longshore transport (littoral drift) should also benefit the beach further south.
This project over the years provides excellent at almost no cost benefits to the City.
It is one of the options, the best I believe, to mitigate any effect of Sea Level Rise.
dollars with wings!
Will this project effect parking on the beach at Sadler Road “Seaside Beach Park?”
Thank you, Lowell Hall; “Citizens for the Preservation of Public Beaches est. 1973”
No. This is not a city beach restoration effort.
Such so-called renourishment projects actually smother and kill lifeforms on a beach that require two years to recover from such impacts. There is a lot more to a natural, viable, beach than an expanse of sand grains. However protection of human real estate trumps all other considerations. Adjoining Cumberland Island, GA requires no similar activity to maintain its natural integrity.
Patrick – The Navy is doing this for a reason – to insure that Trident Submarines can safely navigate the channel to and from Kings Bay.
This beach has been renourished in 2008, 2011, 2013-2014. All except the City 2008 project are the Navy/Corps of Engineer projects. Over this period
there has been little or no effect on Sea Turtle nesting, and the dunes on the north end are actually
expanding.
Is there any way that tourists who are coming to visit the beach can find out if their area will be affected? I have called the visitors center in Fernandina and no one seems to have any information on this dredging. With tourist season starting, it would be a courtesy to post such information.
The St Mary’s River Channel, the Kingsbay Submarine piers and the Fernandina Beach were dredged about Aug 1986 through Oct 1987. The Fernandina Beach was in terrible shape that the dunes were non-existence and the dredging project bought a renewed interest in preserving and promoting the natural attraction of the beach and its wildlife. People would crowd around the slurry pipe to see the sea life that was hauled onto shore such as intact cone shells, clams, shark teeth and jelly fish. Soon after the dredging project was completed, the board walk and picnic area improvements were made to make Fernandina Beach a family attraction.
Without Federal Funding and the dedication of the Army of Engineers, Fernandina’s beaches would not be the jewel that I’m willing to drive over 45 minutes one way just to sit on the pristine beach and admire the handwork of my hardworking Daddy, Brother, Uncles, Cousins and other hard-working AOE’s. God bless such dedicated workers that work through hot and cold, calm and stormy weather. All I can do is look down the length of the beach and see the mountain of fresh sand building and smile……I miss my Daddy Ronald and Brother Johnny but a slice of their lives here in Fernandina lives on in the dunes and the sandy shores of Fernandina….if you see a dredgeman, deck hand or a levelman…..give them a big smile, a firm handshake and a Thank you….it means more than you know.