Congress mandates a survey of the Florida stretch of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway at least annually.
The author joined Col. Alan M. Dodd, Commander of the Jacksonville District and Corps support personnel, along with the federal Waterway’s official local sponsor, the Florida Inland Navigation District and its Commissioners, on the survey of the stretch from Stuart, Fla., to Fernandina Beach, Fla., from Wednesday, April 1, 2015 to Friday, April 3, 2015
Along the way, various Corps and FIND personnel as well as private contractors demonstrated the work and projects underway in the Waterway. We heard an update on the removal of the sunken barge from the Fort Pierce District, a dredge contractor joining us while underway to explain the work and challenges in removing rocky spoil with long distance pump dredges, the Corps’ work in managing exotic vegetation along the Waterway, and an update on Jaxport at Jacksonville.
A stop was made just south of the Palm Valley Bridge to meet with a homeowner whose dock encroached on the federal government’s right of way. The Colonel explained that several letters had been directed to the homeowner without compliance. Either the homeowner could remove the offending structure or the Corps of Engineers would remove the encroachment and place a lien against the owner’s entire property for the federal government’s expenses in removal. No word yet on whether the owner would comply.
A special treat was to make the transit aboard the FLORIDA II, A 62-foot, all steel, catamaran hydrographic survey vessel specifically designed for the Corps of Engineers.
The vessel’s top speed is 40 knots; 3 knots when under survey. Enjoy this short 4 minute videotape.
Florida’s Big Dig 