St. Johns County will receive up to $62 million in federal funding to repair erosion damage from a nor'easter in November.
The storm caused massive erosion along the shoreline with winds up to 63 mph and waves reaching 16 feet, some of the highest water since Hurricane Irma in 2017.
About $37 million in funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be spent to place 2 million cubic yards of sand on 2.5 miles of shoreline, starting 3 miles south of the St. Augustine Inlet and continuing south.
About 1 million cubic yards of sand will be placed on 2.6 miles of shoreline north of the St. Augustine inlet, at a cost of $25 million.
“It’s really good news for the people of St. Johns County, not just the beachfront homeowners but the thousands of residents and tourists who depend on these beaches for recreation and activity and all the economic spinoff of that,” commission Chairman Henry Dean said in a news release.
The projects will use sand from offshore sources. The Corps of Engineers expects to award contracts in late winter.