New Smyrna Beach, FL – May 25, 2018 – It was a great day for team members from Wharton-Smith, Nature Bridges, DMC Engineers, Zev Cohen and Volusia County to celebrate the completion of the Smyrna Dunes Park Boardwalk Renovation project with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. The newly renovated two-mile elevated boardwalk now extends across 73 acres of land at the northern tip of the New Smyrna Beach peninsula.
The ceremony began with speeches from representatives from Volusia County, including Vice-Chair and District 3 Representative Deb Denys who thanked the construction and design teams and noted the project was completed ahead of schedule despite several challenges. In addition to achieving consensus on permits from the Federal, State, County and City agencies, the team successfully overcame challenges due to several endangered species – the sea turtle, gopher tortoise, indigo snake and southeastern beach mouse. Sections of the boardwalk remained open during construction, creating the added task of keeping the public safe and controlling surfers who preferred to take short cuts through the construction site.
Smyrna Dunes Park is one of Volusia County’s most popular destinations providing unique opportunities for naturalists, ecologists, students, and visitors to see a wide variety of animals, birds, reptiles, marine life, and vegetation in their natural habitat. Over time, the 30-year existing boardwalk had degraded and was in need of upgrades. The new boardwalk is now 8’ wide, an increase of two feet, and is constructed using Trex® composite decking, a recycled plastic material. The project also includes new pavilions, new observation towers and ADA compliant ramp access to the beach.
“Nature Bridges, Volusia County and Wharton-Smith made for a great team on this project,” said Ray Bowen, Sr. Project Manager with Wharton-Smith. “The finished boardwalk is a beautiful testament to the dedication and hard work of everyone involved,” he added.
Click here to see photos from the event.
