Category: Public Works - The County Insider

The County Insider

Chester Road Re-opened

3/21/2025

3/21/25 @ 2:10 p.m.

As of 2pm today, Chester Road has re-opened. Thank you everyone for your patience while our Capital Improvements Project Department worked to make this much-needed improvement to the stormdrain. Have a great weekend.

-Sabrina Robertson
Communications Officer

Public Works Employees Excel During Equipment Rodeo

3/17/2025

Last week, the American Public Works Association sponsored their annual Equipment Rodeo. This event consists of individual challenges designed to test the operator's skills in a variety of areas including speed, accuracy, and precision. The operators competed on a variety of heavy equipment including small excavators, wheeled excavators, backhoe loaders, and small wheel loaders.

Nassau County Public Works sent 8 individuals to participate this year, all of which are currently participating in the Nassau County Equipment Operator Apprenticeship Program.

Congratulations to our winners!

Event #1: Basketball Vac Truck Challenge
Contestants used the Vacuum truck to pick up 2 maketballs and place them in goals of different heights.
Winner: Nassau County. Employee Kenneth Thornton with a total time of 53 seconds.

Event #2: Spider Excavator Sleeve Challenge
Contestants used an Excavator Bucket to pick up a steel triangle with a steel sleeve, rotate it 180 degrees, place sleeve inside another sleeve, and then rotate 180 degrees back to its original position.
Winner: Nassau County. Employee DJ Blake with a total time of 45 seconds.

Event #3: Excavator Cornhole Challenge
Contestants used an excavator bucket to pick up 3 square sleeves, rotate them 180 degrees, and then place the square sleeves into properly numbered space.
Winner: St. Johns County

Event #4: Excavator Basketball Challenge
Contestants picked up 3 elevated basketballs and placed them into a barrell.
Winner: Clay County

Event #5: Excavator High Rail Challenge
Contestants picked up a trapeze bar. While rotating it 180 degrees, they had to remove a tennis ball from a street cone with the trapeze bar and hange the trapeze bar in the alternate holder.
Winner: Clay County

Event #6: Vermeer Mario Cart Challenge
Contests had to operate a mini loader through an obstacle road coure and remove 2 tennis balls from street cones.
Winner: St Johns County

Extra Event:
During the safety meeting prior to the competition, contestants were given specific instructions on how to compete, monitor time and return score cards to the judges for completion. This event only had one winner. The winner was the first contestant to complete all 6 scoring events and return scorecard to the judges.
Winner: Nassau County. Employee Travis Ray completed all events in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Each year the APWA sponsors the top 5 finishers to compete at the state level. DJ Blake finished 4th overall out of 61 competitors. This year makes the second time DJ Blake will represent Nassau County at the state level competition. DJ Blake is a 3rd Year Apprentice.

Congratulations to all the Apprentices for representing Nassau County and showcasing their skills and knowledge of operating equipment.

-Sabrina Robertson
Communications Officer

Notice of Road Closure

3/14/2025

UPDATED 3/18/25 @ 9:15 A.M.
It has been noted that a full closure may not be required after all. Please consider this closure as cancelled until further notice.

3/14/24 @ 6:00 a.m. -
The Nassau County Capital Improvement Projects Department is reconstructing the Chester Road and Pages Dairy Road intersection including the Water Forced Main on Chester Road immediately crossing the David Hallman Parkway intersection. This will require a temporary road closure from Chester Road to the Entrance of Home Depot. Work is expected to start on April 1st and is anticipated to be complete on Friday, April 4th, weather and unforeseen circumstances permitting.

Traffic will be maintained in accordance with FDOT design standards throughout the project. During the reconstruction there will be a detour via Courtney Isles Way to Chester Road and Home Depot Parking Lot to SR 200 / A1A.

The public’s patience and understanding while we bring your community these needed improvements are appreciated. Questions or concerns may be directed to Project Administrator James Cuneo of CSI Geo at [email protected] or by calling (386) 983-2810.

-Sabrina Robertson
Communications Officer

Notice of Road Closure

3/7/2025

3/18/25 @ 9:15 a.m. - It has been determined that a full closure will NOT be needed. Please consider this closure as cancelled.

3/7/25 @ 9:00 a.m.
The Nassau County Capital Improvement Projects Department is reconstructing the Chester Road and Pages Dairy Road intersection. This includes a reclaimed water force main immediately east of Chester Road on David Hallman Parkway. This work will require a road closure from Chester Road to the entrance of Gator’s Dockside restaurant. Work is expected to start on March 25th. Completion of the reclaim water force main installation is expected to take 4 days and will conclude on Friday, March 28th, weather and unforeseen circumstances permitting.

Traffic will be maintained in accordance with FDOT design standards throughout the project. While the small section David Hallman Parkway between Chester Road and the entrance to Gator's Dockside will be closed, the remainder of David Hallman Parkway will remain open. The public’s patience and understanding while we bring these needed improvements are appreciated.

Questions or concerns may be directed to Project Administrator James Cuneo of CSI Geo at [email protected]

-Sabrina Robertson
Communications Officer

Notice of Road Closure

2/25/2025

2/25/25 @ 9:55 a.m.

The Nassau County Capital Improvement Projects Department is reconstructing the Chester Road and Pages Dairy Road intersection including the storm drains on Chester Road immediately to the north and south of the railroad tracks. The road closure will be from Pages Dairy Road at the Railroad crossing to the entrance of Fantastic Gymnastics. Work is expected to start on March 18th. Completion of the storm drain installation is expected to take 4 days and will conclude on Friday, March 21st, weather and unforeseen circumstances permitting.

Traffic will be maintained in accordance with FDOT design standards throughout the project. During the reconstruction there will be a detour via Pages Dairy Road to Felmor Road to SR 200 / A1A. During the reconstruction Chester Road will be closed to complete work, as seen in the below graphic.

Questions? Please contact James Cuneo at (386) 983-2810 or via email at [email protected].

-Sabrina Robertson
Communications Officer

Daytime Closures Next Week to US 17 Over St Marys River

1/31/2025

1/31/25 @ 9:00 a.m.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has notified the County that the U.S. 17 over the St. Mary’s River will see full closures Monday, Feb. 3 through Thursday, Feb. 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily for routine bridge maintenance.

During the closures, motorists will not be able to cross the St. Mary’s Bridge and will be detoured to I-95 to cross the river.

If you have any questions, please contact the FDOT District 2 Communications Office at (904) 476-8330 or email [email protected].

About the St. Mary's Bridge:
The St. Mary’s Bridge was constructed in 1927 and is a movable swing bridge, where the center span twists to open for vessels. The bridge is completely manual and requires a crew to unlock the vessel, manually turn the bridge and relock the bridge when vessels request an opening.

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

Gas Leak Between David Hallman Parkway and Pages Dairy Road

1/30/2025

2:00 p.m. update - The repair is complete and the area has re-opened.

1/30/245 @ 10:40 a.m.

Please note that the section of Chester Road north of David Hallman Parkway to Pages Dairy Road is temporarily closed due to a gas leak. Representatives from Florida Public Utilities are already onsite working on this issue which we hope will be resolved within the next 2-3 hours. Anyone needing to access Chester Road north of David Hallman Parkway or Chester Road south of David Hallman Parkway will need to find an alternate route.

Thank you for your patience. We will let everyone know when it has reopened.

Sabrina Robertson
Communications Officer

Employee Recognized for Years of Service

1/15/2025

County Manager Taco Pope; Facilities Technician III Joe Nordeng; and Facilities Division Manager Jeff Little

1/15/25 @ 10:15 a.m. - At today's meeting, the Board of County Commissioners recognized Joe Nordeng for 25 years of service.

Joe began his employment in January 2000 as a Preventative Maintenance Technician at the landfill. Throughout the years, Joe has advanced to various positions, including his current position as a Facilities Technician III for the Facilities Maintenance Department.

Joe has dedicated his time to continuing his education and advancing his skillset. Joe completed the apprenticeship program, earning his HVAC certification. From there, Joe became an instructor where he has continued teach HVAC skills to others. Joe also completed a locksmith training program and has maintained responsibility for all locks and keys for County facilities.

Facilities Division Manager Jeff Little stated, "Joe is tenacious, smart, creative and dedicated. If he tells you he's going to do something, he will do it." The BOCC is grateful to Joe for all he does for the County and commends him for 25 years of outstanding service and dedication.

-Sabrina Robertson
Communications Officer

Public Works Equipment Rodeo

12/19/2024

12/19/24 @ 11:00 a.m.

On Thursday, December 12, 2024, Ring Power hosted the Nassau County Equipment Rodeo at the Road Department on Pea Farm Road. This event consists of individual challenges designed to test the operator's skills in a variety of areas including speed, accuracy, and precision. The operators competed on a variety of heavy equipment including small excavators, wheeled excavators, backhoe loaders, and small wheel loaders. Below is a summary of the challenges and the top competitor for each category:

Challenge #1 — Using a 7 ton excavator, the Participant starts from the bucket on the ground, picks up pin out of cone using the bucket teeth and insert pin in second cone 5 ft away then third cone; Participant must move bucket leaving pin in third cone and reset bucket to starting position. Challenge #1 Winner — Cody Pruett with a time of 72 seconds.

Challenge #2 — Using a 7 ton excavator, the Participant starts from the bucket on the ground, picks a 12" metal ring off of a Shepard's Hook using the bucket teeth and places it on a traffic cone without dropping then repeat the same skill on the second Shepard's Hook. Once completed, participant returns bucket to starting position. Challenge #2 Winner — Darrell (DJ) Blake with a time of 63 seconds.

Challenge #3 — Using a 7 ton excavator, the Participant starts from the bucket on the ground, using the bucket and thumb attachment pick up three stacked tires from one post (one at a time) and restack on a second post 10 feet away. Participant must reset bucket in starting position once completed. Challenge #3 Winner — Kenneth Thorton with a time of 86 seconds.

Challenge #4 — Using a 7 ton excavator, the Participant starts from the bucket on the ground, picks up ring and chain attached to a peg from on top of a tire with the bucket teeth and inserts the swinging peg into the stationary tube, participant must move the bucket from the ring without knocking the tube over and reset the bucket to starting position. Challenge #4 Winner — Darrell (DJ) Blake with a time of 35 seconds.

The overall winner with the best time for all four challenges was Kenneth Thorton with an overall time of 295 seconds.

Those competing were veteran operators, administrative staff, management and new Apprentices. However it was noted that each challenge winner were individuals in their third year of the Nassau County Equipment Operator Apprenticeship Program. This Program was created in 2021 in an effort to recruit and retain high caliber employees in a competitive job market. The program is designed to provide Road Department employees with a clear, defined career path upon beginning their employment, and to provide an avenue to increase their skillset through training. Seeing third-year apprentices win the Equipment Rodeo further demonstrates that the County's investment into equipment and training has been beneficial to the County.

In addition to the challenges, the operators also had the opportunity to check out Ring Power's utility equipment, air compressors, generators, lift trucks, and other products. The event was a great opportunity for operators to learn more about Ring Power's products and services, and to network with other operators in the area.

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer

Notice of Temporary Road Closure

12/6/2024

12/6/24 @ 10:00 a.m. - Please be advised the there will be a temporary road closure tonight on William Burges Blvd. between Nicholas Cutinha Road and Bill Howard Way. The closure will take place from approximately 6:55 p.m. - 7:20 p.m. as we launch fireworks for the 3rd Annual Christmas Tree Lighting. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we celebrate with the community.

-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer