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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, has undertaken a dredging and beach nourishment project that will benefit visitors to Texas’ famed spring break destination.
A large ocean-going suction cutterhead dredge, the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company “Texas,” arrived to the project site yesterday and is expected to begin dredging operations as early as today.
“The dredge will work for seven to ten days dredging the jetty entrance channel, pumping material on Isla Blanca Park,” said Alicia Rea, a project operations manager with the Corps’ Galveston District. “The dredge will then move to Port Mansfield to complete dredge work for nearly a week.”
According to Rea, after dredge work is completed at Port Mansfield, the dredge will return to the Brownsville Ship Channel and complete beach nourishment at the north end of the Padre Island beach.
“This is a double win for the residents, businesses and visitors in the Padre Island area,” said Rea. “Not only do we take care of our mission of keeping America’s waterways navigable, but we also turn that mission into a benefit to the local community.”
According to Rea, approximately 350,000 cubic yards of dredged material will be placed on Padre Island beaches as a result of this operation.
“This beach nourishment project called, "Beneficial Use," seeks to employ environmentally and economically responsible ways to utilize dredged materials to benefit local communities,” said Rea. “Beach renourishment will allow us to improve eroded coastlines through the placement of this dredged material.”
The Texas General Land Office and City of South Padre Island partnered to contribute 2,400,000 in a non-federal cost share initiative to renourish approximately one mile of beach using beach-quality sand harvested from the dredging process.
The Corps awarded a contract Dec. 8 to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company to dredge the Brownsville Ship Channel in Cameron County, Texas. Work is scheduled to be completed by March 1 in order to avoid both the turtle nesting season and spring break.
The $4,538,850 contract is being administered by the Rio Grande Valley Resident Office in Brownsville, Texas.
| Date Taken: | 01.21.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.21.2011 14:24 |
| Story ID: | 63960 |
| Location: | SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 157 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, USACE prepares for beach renourishment at Padre Island, Texas, by Isidro Reyna, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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