Renourishment project for Jacksonville beaches completed

880,000 cubic yards of sand placed on 8-mile span of beaches

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – After three months of work on Jacksonville beaches, the renourishment project has officially ended.

City leaders met Wednesday afternoon to announce the completion of the Duval County beaches renourishment project, which began in October and ended about 8 p.m. Tuesday. 

The renourishment project covered a span of 8 miles from South Jacksonville Beach to 35th Street near Hanna Park. 

City leaders said the dumpsters, equipment and fencing will be removed by the end of the week.

A total of 880,000 cubic yards of sand were placed on the beaches, and 80,000 of that was specifically used to repair the dunes while the rest of the sand was placed on the beaches.

Normally, Duval County’s beaches undergo a project every five or six years. But two back-to-back projects were required in recent years due to hurricanes Matthew and Irma. 

Jacksonville Beach residents are happy leaders is taking care of the beaches.

"We have seen many renourishment projects and afterward everything is always wonderful and better than it was," said Victor Kharchenko, a Jacksonville Beach resident. "We are very happy with the project -- the people that live here and the people that it does benefit."

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry talked about how the project wasn't only good for tourism and economics, but also to maintain the beauty of the beaches. City leaders also said the renourishment project will protect the environment.

City leaders said the Jacksonville Pier is the next project. It's in the engineering design phase and construction is expected to begin in April.

Curry also announced plans to create a committee on sea level rising.