Unyielding Shoreline: Flagler Beach Seawall Fortified with V‑ROD GFRP Bars.
The Flagler Beach seawall project along State Road A1A in Flagler County, Florida, addresses chronic coastal erosion and hurricane surge risk by constructing a 5,000-foot-long secant-pile barrier reinforced with V‑ROD fiberglass rebar. Following catastrophic damage from Hurricane Matthew in 2016 that washed away highway and dunes, engineers designed a GFRP-reinforced concrete seawall to secure the shoreline for a century with minimal maintenance.
The auger-cast secant piles—36 feet long and 3 feet in diameter—feature heavy reinforcement cages in primary load-bearing piles and single V‑ROD rods in non-structural secondary piles, alternating to ensure overlap and interlock. A four-foot-wide GFRP-reinforced concrete cap ties the system together before a landscaped sand dune restores natural beach flora. V‑ROD bars, made of high-strength glass fibers and vinyl ester resin, resist chloride-induced corrosion and eliminate steel rust and repair cycles. By integrating advanced composites, the Flagler Beach seawall pioneers durable, low-life-cycle-cost coastal infrastructure in hurricane-prone regions.