The Nassau County shoreline project wrapped up last week. It originally was scheduled to end in November. | News4Jax
Published on July 14, 2025 at 11:30 am
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A $20 million project to renourish the Fernandina Beach shoreline from Fort Clinch to Sadler Road has finished months ahead of schedule.
Crews from the out-of-state company hired to pump sand onto the shore have been working 24 hours a day since the beach renourishment project started in May.
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Crews officially finished the pumping element of the project last week. The work was originally scheduled for completion in November.
The federal government fully funded the project as part of a storm recovery effort. It was part of a long-awaited response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Dora in 1964, which prompted local advocates to seek congressional action.
Beau Corbett, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, told News4Jax in May that the beach serves a critical purpose beyond recreation.
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“The beach is here to protect the land,” he noted. “The sand you are seeing here is being dredged from offshore. It’s pumping sand from offshore onto the beach, which is being filtered to remove all the debris before it’s placed on the beach.”
In 2018, sand from the Kings Bay channel was used, but this time, the project required a staggering 750,000 cubic yards of sand, necessitating offshore dredging.
Corbett stressed the importance of preserving the beach as the first line of defense during storms.
“When the storm surge comes up onto the land, all of that energy the hurricane brings will attack the beach first,” Corbett explained.
A healthy beach also serves a critical role in the sea turtle nesting and hatching process.
On-beach parking at Seaside Park reopened on Saturday, but because of soft sand conditions, Beach Rangers are making sure only four-wheel drive vehicles head out on the sand for now.
The task of removing the heavy equipment could take a few more weeks.
This story was produced by News4Jax, a Jacksonville Today news partner.
