The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers laid down the first sands of another nourishment project, the third since 2022, at Jetty Park last week.
A mile of shoreline between the Fort Pierce Inlet and South Beach Park is receiving an influx of nearly 400,000 cubic yards of sand. The Army Corps maintains access to the approximate 0.2-mile length of rock jutting into the Atlantic as construction progresses there through September, records show.
By Easter weekend, earth movers from Manson Construction working around-the-clock covered 8-to-10-foot escarpments in new mounds that hid the emaciation the beach had suffered throughout 2025.
The approximate $15 million nourishment that St. Lucie and the Army Corps invested in began toward the end of the county’s tourism season. Homes and restaurants near the A1A roundabout at Jetty Park, though, remain a vulnerable nexus open to inclement weather in the eyes of some owners.
Heavy machinery drove over the beach where Kimba Graziano, co-owner of the Graziano Building, 2017 Seaway Dr., exchanged vows with husband/business partner John Graziano in 2013 when the county opened Jetty Park. “We had our reception in the park; it was absolutely gorgeous,” she said in an April 2 interview.
Kimba Graziano witnessed her building, built in 1957 and home to a Hurricane Grill & Wings franchise, withstand coastal erosion and surges from numerous hurricanes: Jeanne and Frances in 2004; Wilma in 2005; and Nicole in 2022.
“We’ve seen so many hurricanes come and go,” said Graziano, who had a stake in her namesake building since 2000. “It’s kind of a yearly thing now.”
The latest Jetty Park nourishment came after Fort Pierce called for a state of emergency when storm activity broke through shores there in late February.
Before then, Graziano and other property owners received a letter from Gray Seismic Monitoring, LLC, of Jacksonville requesting surveys and the performance of a “Vibration Monitoring Program” Jan. 19. Construction machines could “do damage to the building” if cracks and fissures were significant enough to compromise its integrity under duress, she said.
The neighboring Island Beach Bar and Restaurant, 110 S. Ocean Dr., took the brunt of damage amid the nine-day erosion emergency from Feb. 11-20, as well as from Hurricane Nicole’s landfall. “They got hit really hard with this erosion,” Graziano said.
Weeks later, erosion between Jetty Park revealed hulking sandbags – aka geotextile breakwater tubes, or “T-bars” – the Army Corps installed as early as 1971.
“They were supposed to do that way back in the ’50s,” Graziano said. “They were all exposed. I had walked down and seen them myself. Those bags helped stop breaching any further, but they really need to come up with a plan to help protect this area or else it’s going to be gone within five to 10 years.”
The Jetty Park repairs run parallel to more beach fortification work farther south, which neared its halfway point.
Workers from Manson continue to replenish Dollman Beach in a $14.7 million effort entirely using federal funds. It is expected to end by June, records show.
Dredging machines moved past the St. Lucie/Martin county line near Jensen Beach Park, with disassembled pipes to siphon new sand lined up between the park and the Eustace Mansion, 4545 NE Ocean Blvd.
Even without the involvement of hurricanes and sea rise, newer nourishment projects at both beaches have been a priority for the Army Corps for over a decade.
A 2012 Army Corps study recommended the placement of just over 18 million cubic yards of new sand throughout the barrier island until 2062. Jetty Park was given a recommended sum of around 13 million cubic yards while the southern county was given approximately 5.02 million cubic yards.
The sea currents that pummel Jetty Park, however, may further dissuade residents of their reliability. “It seems like all the sand they’re putting down here just ends up south of Stuart,” Kimba Graziano said.