JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — The sounds of heavy equipment and air horns filled Jacksonville Beach over the weekend as a renourishment project got underway.
For folks who live out by the beach, it’s a site they see every handful of years.
“We did drive all the way from Ponte Vedra to here to find parking," said Nicole Adams, who was enjoying a beach day right next to all the construction equipment. "Once we found parking, we had to keep walking up until we found a beach access that was open.”
Adams watched as the Army Corps of Engineers just finished a renourishment project in Vilano Beach, just south of where she lives on A1A.
A month later, another project is underway on the other side of where she lives, in Jax Beach.
“Normally you don’t like the beach to be so loud," said Adams. "The blow horns and the beeping backing up are kind of annoying. But, it’s fine. It’s the beach, can’t really complain.”
Crews are starting at 10th Avenue South in Jacksonville Beach, working south to the Duval-St. Johns County line, then coming back to 10th Avenue and heading north through Hannah Park.
The $32 million project to rebuild 10 miles of coastline is entirely federally funded and is expected to last until the middle of August, weather permitting.
“Summer is right around the corner, and they’re saying this is going to be another four months? They shouldn’t have done this," said Dahn Crandall, who was visiting the beach from Middleburg. "They should’ve waited because Jax Beach is packed during the summer.”
Fortunately, only a few blocks will be shut down at a time, and crews will work 24/7 to finish as quickly as possible.
Adams says she’ll do her best to avoid the work on her beach trips this summer, especially after seeing areas of A1A North and South of where she lives flood during Hurricane Ian in 2022.
“We’re technically in a flood zone," said Adams. "This helps with that, so it is nice that our area is protected.”
This is the seventh major renourishment since they started the shoreline project in 1978.
The last one was in 2016-17, so that gives an idea of how long it may be until another one of this magnitude.
Of course, a lot of that depends on Duval County's luck with hurricanes over the next few years.