Beach Renourishment Project Continues

Alabama Gulf Coast beaches are expecting some changes, including beach renourishment projects at the East End of Dauphin Island and in Baldwin County from west of Little Lagoon Pass to the Florida-Alabama line, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced. The engineered beach renourishment projects involve pumping more than 3 million yd3 of sand from nearshore areas onto the beaches. Those projects, which also include raising the sand dune heights, planting vegetation and building sand fences, are partially funded by the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund and from state and local money. The project in Baldwin County has completed the work in Gulf Shores and Gulf State Park and has just started to pump sand on the beaches of Orange Beach. It will continue until it reaches the Florida-Alabama line. In Mobile County, the project will restore approximately 1.5 miles of beach shoreline and approximately 85 acres of beach and dune habitat on Dauphin Island. The East End beach protects the Audubon Bird Sanctuary and other upland resources from beach erosion due to storms. The project will protect an additional 50 acres of beach and dune habitat, as well as a maritime forest and a freshwater lake in the Dauphin Island East End Bird Sanctuary. The project is expected to be completed in three to four months.