The Jacksonville division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded an almost $40 million contract to a Seattle company to improve navigation on the St. Johns River.
Manson Construction Co. earned the $39.5 million Mile Point Training Wall Reconfiguration contract to relocate and reconfigure the existing stone wall, restore Great Marsh Island and create flow improvement in Chicopit Bay.
Additional benefits will be restoring local, historic channel flow and increasing marsh habitat of up to 34 acres more than is required through mitigation.
The corps estimates the project will take 12-18 months and be completed by winter 2016.
Officials have long known the Mile Point area limits navigation during ebb tide because of St. Johns River and Intracoastal Waterway crosscurrents.
The navigation restriction affects vessels greater than 33 feet in transit draft inbound and 36 feet outbound.
The project will improve that efficiency and reduce safety hazards.
Specifically, it will construct about 4,000 feet of a new training wall, remove another 3,300 feet at the westerly end and built another 2,100 feet at the east end. Stone from the training wall that’s removed will be used elsewhere.
Helen Cooper Floyd Park will be used as a staging area and stay closed throughout construction.
For more information on Mile Point, visit saj.usace.army.mil.