Delayed a Month, Work on Flagler Beach Pier Demolition Resumes After Erin’s Waves Wash Out Turtle Nest

It took a bit of a cataclysmic tragedy for what may have been up to a hundred eggs, but demolition work on the Flagler Beach pier resumed today after a turtle nest that had stopped the work cold at the end of July washed out to sea as Hurricane Erin’s waves battered the shore. The storm never got close to the beach. But swells carved out a significant swath of sand, and with it the loggerhead nest.

A green turtle nest nearby that had contributed to the work stoppage hatched safely. While a sea turtle may live up to a century, the chance that a turtle will survive into adulthood–past predators, past storms, past the unexpected–is one in a thousand.

“The Marine Turtle Permit Holder has informed FWC that the two marine turtle nests in the project area are no longer on the beach, with ‘Nest #1’ hatching and ‘Nest #2’ being washed away from Hurricane Erin’s waves,” Eric Seckinger, an environmental commenting administrator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, wrote Flagler Beach City Manager Dale Martin this morning, among others. “Construction of the Flagler Beach Pier can continue in the project area where the turtle nests were previously located.”

Hurricane Erin became an enormous Category 5 Hurricane on Aug. 16 as it was nearing the Florida Peninsula from the southeast. Forecasters had predicted that it would remain well offshore as it shifted north, paralleling the coast, but that it would create a small storm surge and significant waves. It did both before moving further north and dissipating south of Iceland on Aug. 28.

It became obvious the morning of Aug. 21, as documented by the Turtle Patrol and an image by Flagler Beach Commissioner Rick Belhumeur (see below) that the nest closer to the waterline had been ripped out by the waves, which left a small sandy cliff along the foot of the dune line.

But Vecellio and Grogan, the contractor on the $16 million project, could not restart work without FWV’s clearance. That took a while, as FWC required detailed plotting of the former nest’s location, down to GPS coordinates.

The Flagler Turtle Patrol had flagged the first nest for August 16, “flagging” being the nest’s due date, and the second nest for Sept. 10 or thereabout.

The contractor had been building a steel-framed platform that will extend the length of the old pier. The platform will enable construction equipment and workers to parallel the old structure as they demolish it, before again using the platform to drill new pylons to build the 800-foot concrete pier.

The project was due for completion by the end of 2026. It is not yet clear to what extent it will be delayed, as the contractor had built in some time for unexpected events, such as storms. “Our contractor is currently updating the construction schedule to reflect the delay and new timelines,” Todd Anderson, the city’s project manager, wrote an in email to Martin this afternoon, “and while some adjustments were necessary, they are working hard to get things back on track and keep things moving efficiently and safely.”

Martin said he expects that the contractor will resume the practice of providing the city a weekly construction update on Fridays.

The project is not necessarily fully in the clear. “As a reminder, no work on the beach can occur each morning until the Marine Turtle Permit Holder has completed the morning survey and cleared the beach,” Seckinger cautioned. “Work may be halted if any new nests are laid in the project area that cannot be avoided between now and before construction has been completed.” Turtle nesting season stretches between March and October.

“I am thrilled to see the resumption of activities related to the pier replacement,” Belhumeur said. “I hope that we can now continue as scheduled and by the end of next year we will have a new pier. It will be made structurally with concrete, ready to challenge the ocean for decades to come, and completing Larry Newsom’s vision for a pier of this type even before Hurricane Matthew ripped the first big chunk off in 2016.” Larry Newsom was the city manager for five years until 2020, when he died of illness at 56.