Florida’s most-eroded beach needs help. Will T-groins work?

Army Corps and St. Lucie County spent $15 million on placing new sand on Fort Pierce Jetty Park beach.

The Army Corps of Engineers and St. Lucie County are working on a new solution to fix Florida’s most-eroded beach.

Here are 5 things to know about the T-groin project:

• They plan to place a half-dozen T-groins at the Fort Pierce Jetty Park beach by 2030.
• T-groins are designed to reduce wave energy and trap sand, but the county did not cite any data or studies that prove they will work.
• The groins, which are typically like rock jetties, will run perpendicular from the dune line with the T part in the ocean.
• The Army Corps said the two biological opinions it received “resolved” the state’s environmental concerns about sea turtle nesting and other impacts, so the project is moving forward.
• The Army Corps and county plan to split the $900,000 cost.

Read the full story: Florida’s most-eroded beach in Fort Pierce costs $15 million to add sand every two years

Fixing Florida’s most-eroded beach in Fort Pierce

Fort Pierce Jetty Park costs taxpayers about $15 million every two years for beach restoration projects to replace lost sand, the Army Corps said during an April 28 ribbon-cutting ceremony for its latest effort. St. Lucie County officials hope the T-groins will reduce the need to add new sand to every four years instead of every two year.

Sand has been placed at the Jetty Park beach 14 times since 1971, said Joshua Revord, St. Lucie County Department of Port, Inlet & Beaches director.

The current project, expected to be complete by mid-May, is placing 400,000 cubic yards of sand on a one-mile stretch from the jetty south, according to Col. Brandon Bowman.

Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.