By Eric Curl
June 07, 2022 – Focused primarily on protecting the stretch of US 80 to Tybee Island, the US Army Corps of Engineers determined the benefits of preventing the erosion of the adjoining McQueen’s Island Trail were not worth the costs.
As a result of the preliminary analysis, the corps ended a study it was conducting in partnership with Chatham County to develop long-term strategies to protect the popular recreational trail along the Savannah River.
From a federal interest perspective, the potential benefits for the project were primarily from preventing damage to US 80, according to correspondence regarding the corps’ decision obtained by Savannah Agenda. There were justifiable benefits from preventing damage to the trail and maintaining its recreational value, but those were relatively small compared to the highway, Jeff Schwindaman, a civil works project manager with the corps’ Savannah district, said in an email to the county.
The engineering analysis shows erosion damage to the trail, but little damage to US 80 over the 50-year planning horizon, Schwindaman said.
“Because of this, the proposed shoreline protection measures do not appear to be economically justified based on benefits consisting primarily of damage reduction to the trail and its recreational value,” he said.
In response to an inquiry from Savannah Agenda regarding the decision, corps’ spokesperson Cheri Pritchard added that the preliminary analysis showed addressing erosion to the trail did not provide damage reduction benefits to US 80, beyond what GDOT would reasonably be expected to do to maintain the highway.
Such decisions are common when the project does not meet the requirements for the corps’ participation, Pritchard said.
“Terminating early saves money for both the Federal Government and the local sponsor,” she said.
Pritchard said the corps’ team looked at range of structural shore protection and stabilization measures such as rock barriers, sills, and living shorelines. The initial analysis showed benefits in the range of roughly $1 million to $3 million and costs in the range of roughly $8 million to $20 million, she said.
The Chatham County Commission approved the partnership with the US ACE in January 2021, agreeing to provide up to $250,000 of what was estimated to be a $600,000 study. Due to the study’s early termination, the corps returned about $230,000. At Friday’s meeting, the county commission is scheduled to approve the use of the returned funds to cover increased costs of the McQueen’s Trail stabilization project, which grew as a result of continued erosion and the need for additional construction materials.
County officials say they are nearly done restoring the trail that was wiped out by storm surges and wakes from the larger ships traveling to and from Georgia’s ports. The more than 3-year-old restoration project’s completion has been delayed multiple times – with costs increasing from almost $1.5 million to almost $2.6 million – due to storms, high tides and shipping traffic. The trail is now expected to be reopened to the public this summer. A mid-point entrance about a mile past the Bull River bridge will be permanently closed, however, in accordance with a Georgia Department of Transportation directive to address US 80 traffic concerns.
Following damage from Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, the county commission approved the original contract for the stabilization project in December 2018 at a cost of almost $1.5 million. Before construction began, the trail was extensively damaged by several extreme high tide events, resulting in the need for additional materials, according to county officials. New funds were also reportedly required to comply with GDOT’s requirement to remove the midpoint access on US 80 near the Bull River Bridge.
In February, the commission approved the fourth contract change order for the stabilization project, a 90-day extension and $27,640 increase, that brought the total cost to almost $2.6 million.
To help prevent future erosion of the trail, the corps project team found that there appears to be some potential benefits to placing dredged materials from the harbor in front of the trail as a buffer, similar to what was done to address erosion on the north side of Cockspur Island, according to Schwindaman’s email.
Chatham officials are currently discussing the option with the corps, according to Jefferson Kirkland, environmental program manager for Chatham County’s engineering department.
“Staff recently reviewed a background document created by USACE regarding this program and are awaiting further information from USACE,” Kirkland said.
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