St. Augustine Municipal Marina repairs underway
St. Augustine Municipal Marina repairs underway
In 2022, the St. Augustine Municipal Marina received funding from the Florida Inland Navigational District (FIND) and the St. Augustine Port, Waterway, and Beach District (Port District), for repairs.
Funds were divided by FIND as 25% of repairs totaling up to $500K dollars. The Port District would provide $250K dollars at the onset of the work.
Hurricane Ian and Tropical Storm Nicole delayed those repairs until now.
According to Eric Mauldin, the marina’s harbormaster, the wait was necessary to properly access new damages caused by both storms.
“Work is sight specific to each location,” he said. “Float modules and materials are custom built, which takes time."
Dock improvements include replacing 29 concrete pilings with steel pilings, larger wood walers, concrete modular floats, and the installation of new water and electrical utilities.
Built in 2013, the breakwater dock serves as a site-design wave attenuator that provides weather protection for its marine slips. Compromised by the design, hurricanes and storms, the marina has not operated at full capacity.
According to Mauldin, although the dock is not fully operational, the marina is still able to provide services which include deep-water fueling, sewage pump-outs, potable water, overnight dockage, and moorings for recreational and commercial boaters, marine fire and law enforcement vessels and seasonal vessels ranging between 20 and 200 feet.
“The major impact is not having protection against the northeast winds north of the Marina,” he said. “But we’re not replacing the dock. We’re moving forward with mitigation options, replacing concrete pilings with steel pilings for longevity and concrete modular floats with new ones.”
The availability of slips - about 50% - will be limited during construction. Repairs are expected to be completed in February of 2024.
“You never know what you’re going to get,” concluded Mauldin. “We do the best with the information that we have. We had a full marina during Nicole. And even though the breakwater dock broke, it maintained its structural integrity until the last moments of the storm. Despite the damage, we provided vital protection to those staying at the marina with no boats damaged.”
This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: St. Augustine Municipal Marina repairs underway
