$25M sand project acted as 'band-aid,' Volusia County says after king tide erosion

King tides have taken a toll on Volusia County’s coastline, washing away sand and leaving steep cliffs along the beaches. Now, the county is assessing the damage — including in New Smyrna Beach, where a $25 million sand placement project was recently completed. As jarring as the erosion looks, county officials say the outcome is exactly what they expected.Some of those cliffs stand nearly 5 feet tall, carved out by the force of the king tides. In other areas, receding sand has re-exposed seawalls — the same stretch where the county just spent $25 million to rebuild its sand buffer. For one local resident, the project made all the difference.“If they wouldn’t have done this, we’d be back to square one with losing our walkways and losing all the sand from in front of our sand walls,” said Tracy Capps, who manages a local condo club in New Smyrna Beach.“It saved us,” Capps added.Not everyone shares that relief. At 27th Avenue Beach Park, sand that covered the beach just a month ago has la