Upgrades in works for IR Inlet walkway
The Army Corps of Engineers recently announced the awarding of a contract to make long-awaited improvements to the pedestrian walkway on the north side of Indian River Inlet.
A significant portion of the inlet’s northside walkway has been closed for almost five years. A Jan. 22 press release issued by the corps’ Philadelphia district said it had awarded a contract to Agate Construction Co. Inc. for $5.3 million to repair that portion of the bulkhead and to sand-tighten a portion of the south jetty at the inlet. Mobilization of equipment is expected to take place in April, with work to begin shortly afterward, said the release.
According to the corps, a deep scour hole caused by swift tidal currents within the inlet has undermined the slope of the shoreline and walkway.
The contract also calls for sand tightening a 215-foot section of the south jetty. This work will involve installing steel sheet piling to reduce the amount of sand migrating into the inlet.
The corps has plans to extend the inlet’s north jetty, but this contract does not include those repairs, said Steve Rochette, Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson, in a Jan. 24 email. That’s still under analysis, he said.
The corps will host a virtual public meeting on this project at 11 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 15. Details on the project and how to participate in the virtual meeting are available on the corps’ project webpage at nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Indian-River-Inlet/.
