Dauphin Island Causeway, Gulf Shores Beach Restorations Begin

The Mobile County Commission has announced that construction has begun on the Dauphin Island Causeway Restoration Project in Mobile Bay near Dauphin Island Causeway north of Cedar Point Pier. Announced in August, the work will restore tidal habitat along the 3.3-mile stretch of the Dauphin Island Causeway from Mobile County’s Bayfront Park to Cedar Point. The project is funded by grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund and the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund with the goals of protecting infrastructure and creating habitat injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, respectively. No matching funds are required from the commission.Carter Contracting Services, Inc. was awarded the contract to construct the rock breakwaters for $26,685,698. These will be placed roughly parallel to the causeway at variable offshore distances to recreate known historic shoreline proportions. It is to protect both the causeway and nearly 300 acres of healthy, productive salt marsh habitat to the west of the causeway. Work is to conclude by summer 2024.Beach restoration work in Gulf Shores is now officially underway, FOX10 reports. The city said crews are working 24/7 using two dredging vessels to repair the damage from Hurricanes Nate and Sally. The dredging and restoration in Gulf Shores is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Olsen Associates explains that Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co., LLC is conducting the offshore dredging operations and bringing sand to the Gulf Shores East Beach segment of the project along the 900 block of West Beach Boulevard. In total, the project will place more than 2 million yd3 of sand along five segments of the shoreline, from Laguna Key to the Alabama/Florida State Line on Perdido Key. The project is expected to last through February 2024.