LARGE PROJECT Winner: FORT PIERCE CITY MARINA

The Fort Pierce City Marina was severely damaged when Hurricane Francis moved through the central east coast of Florida in 2004, so the project team knew that a stronger, more resilient design was required for the reconstruction.

Located in sensitive coastal habitat, the design also needed to avoid impacts to existing resources and address regulatory constraints on filling open water.

Numerical hydrodynamic and physical modeling tools were used to optimize the structural/functional performance while maximizing the environmental enhancement of the project.

Going beyond just avoiding impacts, the project creates 13 acres of nature-like breakwater islands with more than 21 acres of environmental enhancements including oyster habitat, mangrove plantings, dune grass plantings, seagrass habitat improvements, and shorebird nesting habitat. These biologic elements tie in with the rock of the rubble mound islands to create a system that will become stronger over time.

The project is also recognized for its beneficial reuse of dredged material: all of the sand for the construction of the large dune-like island was dredged from existing navigation channels (30,000 cubic yards) or reclaimed from dredged material management areas (120,000 cubic yards).