Flagler County beach renourishment project completed early, in time for Labor Day weekend

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — Parts of Flagler County beaches are hundreds of feet bigger following an Army Corps of Engineers dredging operation.

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It was completed on Friday, more than a month earlier than anticipated and just in time for the holiday weekend.

The community is celebrating now that the large equipment has finally been cleared from the coast.

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For more than a month, the corps was pumping sand back onto the beaches after much of it eroded during hurricanes and other storms.

The county also lost most of its dunes, leaving State Road A1A and the rest of the area unprotected, resulting in several washouts.

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“I was waiting a long time for this!” beachgoer Sharon Warwell-Murden said.

The project was more than a decade in the making and the partnership between the county and federal government ensures beach renourishment efforts will be funded for the next fifty years.

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One complaint some residents expressed was about the lighter color of the sand.

In Flagler County, they’re used to a red-orange coquina appearance. However, the new sand comes from deep below the ocean’s surface, causing it to look slightly different.

County officials say the sand will eventually all mix together, and the reddish hue will return.

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