Sargent Breakwater and Jetty Update 5.28.2021

I reached out to Atkins global to ensure we knew what was going on and what was next.  As many people saw, there was a ship off the coast getting borings of the soil where the breakwaters will go to ensure they will be on sound footing and will not sink into the ground. The funding for this was approved by the county commissioners back in April.  Definitely a great sign of progress. 


So - from the update -  the Sargent breakwater and groin(jetty) project is on schedule.  It is not going to start in the fall.  Plans are for end of December or first of January for construction of breakwaters and groin. We were hoping the permit would be complete in the fall.


I then wanted to know - what's next.  This is not the full solution - this is a pilot program and this is the response: 

Yes, this is a pilot and the intent is to replicate the project. We will monitor the project after construction most likely at 6 months and at 1 year. We should see results fairly soon after construction.


If we are not seeing the anticipated results, we will make adjustments to the structures in place.
With project success, we will then need to coordinate with the County, GLO and USACE to consider the next phase.
We don’t anticipate that we would need to replicate the project all the way to the Cedar Lakes Cut. There will be a “sweet spot” if you will, and we will do some modeling after the first project is complete to determine where that is.  


So yes, there has been discussion for another phase. I cant tell you now who will sponsor the work, and not sure what the extent will be just yet.


So to break it down - 

  1. Contracts to open the mouth of the San Bernard were supposed to be complete by May 25 - September start for work
  2. Permits for the breakwater and groin should be finally complete in the fall of 2021
  3. Construction to begin in January 2022!!!
  4. Beach renourishment after construction to be done by GLO with Harvey money
  5. Monitor the project at 6 months and a year from construction to determine impact on the beach - make adjustments to current groin/breakwater system as necessary
  6. Model out how far up the breakwaters need to go heading east up the beach to project all of Sargent beach
  7. Get funding and install final breakwaters
My concern is the amount of time it will take for 5 and  6.  That is where we need to push our county commissioners and GLO to not take too much time or we will have a $40 million bridge to nowhere. 




https://youtu.be/jj7fPZJLUc4 - if you want to share the link

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