Beach Project Nears Conclusion as It Moves to Pier and Heart of Flagler Beach, With a Few Traffic Disruptions

The $27 million beach renourishment project in Flagler Beach is nearing conclusion in the next few weeks, well ahead of schedule, at least its latest schedule: the project overall had been delayed a few years. It entails a few traffic disruptions this morning. (See: “An Inside Look at the Army Corps’ Beach Renourishment Along Flagler County’s Shore as It Nears Completion.”)

State Road A1A was closed this morning after 6 a.m. between North 7th Street and South 2nd Street, detouring to interior roads as massive equipment for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer project is transferred from the south end of the pier to the north end. The equipment was being slowly driven on A1A, including a gargantuan extractor–the machine that separates undesirable material from the sand–as trudges up the road on mats placed in its way, so its track chains don’t damage the road.




The detours were lifted at 8:30 a.m.

A portion of the boardwalk east of A1A is being removed, with a temporary sand ramp installed from the beach up to A1A just north of South 6th Street to facilitate equipment access. Once that section is closed, a large, tracked machine will traverse the sand ramp and travel along previously placed ground protection mats to the beach access ramp at the corner of Moody Boulevard, or State Road A1A.

Once the equipment is on the beach A1A will be reopened to traffic. Officials ask that motorists and pedestrians comply with all on-site signage and directions, and exercise driving caution and courtesy to ensure public safety.

The sand ramp will remain and the boardwalk will not be replaced until the equipment is moved back south of the pier, at a date still to be determined, for demobilization. A similar, temporary closure and re-routing of traffic will be conducted at that time.

The Corps project, in coordination with Flagler County government, is rebuilding the beach and dune system from the north edge of Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area to North 78th Street, with the majority of that stretch considered the federal portion of the project, and a small additional portion considered the county’s portion. Weeks Marine, the contractor, is dredging some 1.3 million cubic yards of sand from a borrow zone 11 miles offshore to replenish the beach.




Once complete, the constructed beach and dune system will serve as the first line of defense from future storm events and sea level rise. The project is constructed to “sacrifice” its protective buffer with loss of sand to protect infrastructure, including residential and commercial properties, State Road A1A and critical public facilities. Other significant project benefits include expanded recreational beach opportunities for residents and visitors, and critical nesting habitat for sea turtles and shorebirds.

In other words, expect to see the beach eroded in coming months and years: it’s inevitably part of the plan, with additional renourishments projected at least every 11 years.

Once the renourishment project is completed, Flagler Beach will turn its attention to the demolition of the old pier and the construction of a new, 800-foot concrete pier. That will likely cause its own periodic traffic disruptions.