MANSON COMPLETES NEW FLOW-WAY FOR ST. JOHNS RIVER PROJECT

Dredging work has open a new flow-way in Chicopit Bay and its connection to the Intracoastal Waterway system which is necessary for the Mile Point project to improve navigation on the St. Johns River. 

Mile Point is where Pablo Creek / Intracoastal Waterway meets the St. Johns River resulting in difficult cross-currents at ebb tide. This restricts port navigation causing delays and shipping inefficiencies. 

Manson began work dredging the new flow improvement channel in April and was closing off the waterway that’s been used since the breakthrough of Great Marsh Island. Manson is using geo-synthetic tubes to build an island perimeter foundation to restore the Great Marsh Island. The contractor will place roughly 30000 tons of stone to construct the western training wall and then fill the interior with dredged material. 

The project will restore 18.84 acres of salt marsh at Great Marsh Island to offset the loss of 8.15 acres of salt marsh at Helen Cooper Floyd Park.  Beyond the mitigation requirement the Corps is using dredged material from the project to restore up to 53 acres of salt marsh at the island. This effort includes restoration of high and low salt marsh as well as low dune and oyster habitat and the new training wall should also substantially reduce active erosion at Great Marsh Island.

Crews are still working to relocate roughly 311 feet of stone from the existing training wall and build a new wall on the southeast side along the Intracoastal Waterway. Construction is estimated to continue through November 2016.