National Erosion Control Development and Demonstration
Program (Section 227)
Alligator Point, Florida
Description
Southwest Cape, known locally as Alligator Point, is located on Alligator Spit, a peninsula
extending about 7.7 km (4.8 miles) westward from Lighthouse Point at the southeast
corner of St. James Island in Franklin County, Florida. Alligator Point is at the western end
of Appalachee Bay, bordered on the north by Alligator Head and by the Gulf of Mexico to
the south. The site is bordered by several prominent offshore shoal systems including Dog
Island Reef to the southeast
and Ochlockonee Shoal to the
east. County Highway 370
runs along Alligator Point
and provides the only hurri-
cane evacuation route for
homes on the spit. A large
beach in front of Alligator
Point has eroded in recent
years to the extent that a
portion of Highway 370 was
endangered by wave action.
The county has constructed a
concrete rubble revetment
along 549 m (1,800 ft) of the
highway, and an additional
305 m (1,000 ft) is
Revetment along highway at Alligator Point, Florida
endangered.
Issue
Alligator Point is subject to continuous and severe erosion due to storm induced wave
attack, and local interests desire emergency assistance to protect the shoreline and adjacent
Highway 370. Attempts by the Franklin County Road Department to provide interim pro-
tection along the shoreline to protect the highway from past storms have been met with
only marginal success. If no action is taken, continued erosion will further threaten the
integrity of the road leading to complete road failure or erosion of the abutment
approaches. This would result in a complete halt to the flow of traffic onto the Alligator
Point Peninsula and the loss of adjacent public facilities. There is an opportunity for
Federal and State interests to cooperate and expeditiously solve a water and related land
resources problem which threatens the integrity of the access road to Alligator Point.
Status
The project is currently on hold pending congressional approval of an extension to the
Section 227 program.
Donald L. Ward, CEERD-HC-PS, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199;
Points of Contact
phone, (601) 634-2092; e-mail,
Linda S. Lillycrop, CESAM-EN-HH, 109 Saint Joseph St., Mobile, Al 36602-3630;
phone, (215) 690-2593; e-mail,
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
May2005
www.erdc.usace.army.mil
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