PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Back in 2010, the City of Daytona
Beach, Fla., unveiled a master
plan that called for the
revitalization of the city’s riverfront area
into a “truly spectacular civic facility.”
Running for 14 blocks along the Halifax
River intracoastal waterway in Old Daytona,
the riverfront lands extend from South
Street to Fairview Avenue. Plans called for
an extensive renovation designed to attract
tourists, watercraft, pedestrians, cyclists,
shoppers and restaurant-goers to the Beach
Street commercial area.
Today, that plan includes a massive
multi-million-dollar facelift for the
mile-long Riverfront Park, located on
public lands east of Beach Street. Local
philanthropists J. Hyatt and Ceci Brown
are donating $23 million to the park’s
remarkable renaissance, which will include
new gardens, dozens of mature trees,
ponds, walking paths, fountains, sculptures
and a splash pad.
Before the park’s new amenities could
be constructed or trees could be planted,
engineers first had to make sure the new
facility would be built on solid ground.
The existing coquina seawall was failing
and had to be removed and replaced with
a higher-elevation barrier. A tender was
issued on March 17, 2020 for the $3.1
million job, which also included installing
a concrete cap, ornamental handrails,
observation decks, restoring the pedestrian
bridge, constructing multiple stormwater
pipe outfalls and installing new manholes,
stormwater pipes and stormwater
backflow preventers.
The job of replacing the park’s aging
seawall went to Poseidon Dredge & Marine
of Lantana, Fla. The firm, founded in
2013, specializes in building and repairing
seawalls of all kinds: aluminum, concrete,
vinyl, wood, RIP-RAP (coquina natural
rocks) and sheet pile.
Crews began the work at Riverfront Park
on Aug. 1, 2020, with a projected completion
date of March 31, 2021.
Challenges to conquer
For this job, design engineer Dredging &
Marine Consultants (DMC) felt a composite
sheet pile seawall would last longer
than steel sheet piles, requiring less city
maintenance over time.
Poseidon Dredge & Marine was tasked
with installing about 1,400 linear feet of
Photo courtesy of Poseidon Dredge & Marine
www.piledrivers.org PILEDRIVER | 107
/www.piledrivers.org
