USACE Charleston Gets Supplemental Funding for Coastal Projects

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District, has received supplemental funding for disaster recovery projects on Folly Beach, Myrtle Beach, Edisto Beach, Pawleys Island, the Charleston Harbor and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

The Charleston District has already received and used $29 million of this funding for short-term repairs in its award of a $34.8 million project for the rehabilitation of the Myrtle Beach Coastal Storm Risk Management project, which begins in August and will place approximately 1.4 million cubic yards of beach fill on the shorelines of North Myrtle, Myrtle, Garden City and Surfside Beaches.

The Folly Beach CSRM is also listed for receipt of supplemental funds, pending approval of an addendum to the previous Project Information Report.

Pawleys Island and Edisto Beach were also listed on the construction funding decision. These projects have been previously authorized as federal projects, but construction had not been appropriated for funding until now, USACE said.

Additionally, two new feasibility studies for the District are funded in the investigations account listing. The Folly Beach General Reevaluation Report will examine alternative measures to continue to deliver the coastal storm risk management benefits.

The Charleston Peninsula study will evaluate possible actions intended to provide long-term risk reduction from flooding on the City of Charleston’s peninsula. Both of these studies are proposed to be completed within three years and cost less than$3 million from the time they commence.

The Charleston Harbor and the AIWW will receive Operation and Maintenance funding under the supplemental in order to address impacts from recent hurricanes. The funding for the Charleston Harbor will replace lost sand and provide long-term maintenance of the rock structure on the southern jetty on Morris Island. The funding for the AIWW will enable the removal of material that was deposited in the channel as a result of the storms.

“We’re very excited about receiving supplemental funding made available after the recent hurricane damage,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Palazzini, district commander. “We already have some of these projects underway and we are eager to start the new projects and studies that we’ve never done before. These projects and studies will have great implications for the entire state of South Carolina.”

These South Carolina projects are part of the additional work that USACE Headquarters announced as plans to accomplish with the funding provided for disaster recovery in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, signed into law February 9, 2018.

Approximately $17.398 billion was provided for disaster recovery across the country. The funds provided will attend to both long-term and short-term disaster recovery projects.