Thread: Coming to beach near you...

:
http://blog.al.com/live/2012/10/bald...renourish.html

Baldwin County beach renourishment project begins in Gulf Shores
Published: Monday, October 01, 2012, 4:43 PM Updated: Monday, October 01, 2012, 4:50 PM
By Marc D. Anderson

GULF SHORES, Alabama -- A multimillion-dollar sand replenishment project has begun along Baldwin County's beaches.


According to Blake Phelps with the city of Gulf Shores, Jacksonville, Fla.-based Manson Construction, which won the roughly $13.2 million overall project bid, started mobilizing today.


Once sand starts being pumped onto the coastline at Laguna Key near West Beach in Gulf Shores this month, the project is expected to take about 4 to 6 months to complete, finishing up at the Alabama-Florida state line in Orange Beach.


The project will repair the damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in September 2008, according to Philip West, coastal resources manager for Orange Beach.


While Gulf Shores will be responsible for about $1.1 million, Orange Beach will have to pay between $600,000 and $700,000 toward the $13.2 million project. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay 75 percent of the costs and the Alabama Emergency Management Agency will pay 10 percent.


The current contract will add about 1.8 million cubic yards of sand to the beachfront in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and along Gulf State Park. West said it's his hope that damage caused by Hurricane Ida in 2009 and even Hurricane Isaac this year can be added to the workload.


"We could save taxpayers millions of dollars," West said. "It would be a win for everyone."


West said Isaac alone chewed up about 1.2 million cubic yards of sand in late August.


The sand that will be used to bolster the beaches will come from borrow sites, 2 to 3 miles offshore.


"All borrow sites were surveyed in advance to make sure they were free of oil," Phelps said.


Once the sand starts flowing, Phelps said safety zones will be setup to allow crews to work. Those crews are expected to add about 1,000 feet of coastline daily.


In addition to the renourishment project, the Gulf Shores announced that the Alabama Department of Transportation has started maintaining Little Lagoon Pass. The city cautioned those West Beach residents living near the pass that they may experience some disruptions. That work is expected to be done by Nov. 1.

dang... here we go....any bets on future octi depth :boohoo: :violent :violent :boohoo: :wall:

They can get sand from the pier at Dauphin Island Pier and make me happy.

These passages come to mind, every time I hear about beach renourishment. I find it quite ironic. Two thousand year ago practical and apparently common knowledge concerning building homes was used as a metaphor on how we should build our lives. Today we use immoral practices (depending upon how you view it) to protect foolish building practices.
[quote=Matthew 7:24-27 (NRSV)]24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man
who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that
house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26 And everyone who hears these
words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27
The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it
fell—and great was its fall!”

Here is a link to the company doing the dredge/beach fill operation...
http://olsen-associates.com/obgs/

They intermittently post progress updates as per their location.
The work is shifting east of Little Lagoon Pass this week. :

Projected Weekly Progress:
Beach fill work West of Lagoon Pass is expected to be complete this week. Cleanup and equipment removal will follow for the next 1-2 weeks (approx.).
NOTE! Beach fill operations will shift to the 900 block of W. Beach Blvd. on or before the week of December 3rd, 2012. The beach fill will first progress westward toward the 1000 and 1100 blocks of W. Beach Blvd.

They are behind schedule (according to a source) but should be in the GSPark early next year. :-X

I wonder what that will do to the winter sheepshead bite? :-\

This aerial photo (low oblique) is looking westward at the end of West Beach Blvd. No idea of the date.
[img width=720 height=188]http://olsen-associates.com/obgs/wp-content/themes/twentyten/images/headers/path.jpg[/img]

You can see they are filling out just beyond the current beach bar making the beach 'featureless'.
I wonder how this will affect the fishing in the short and long term? :-\

[quote author=terryrweems link=topic=2093.msg19543#msg19543 date=1349223188]
They can get sand from the pier at Dauphin Island Pier and make me happy.
[/quote]
agreed

Keep this scene in mind ...
[img width=704 height=397]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/pierpounder/Misc/2012-BeachFill/121212-GSPublicBeach-Detailed2.jpg[/img]

because the Beach Fill project is now just west of the GS Public Beach.
They already have a pipe in place just west of the pier...
[img width=497 height=397]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/pierpounder/Misc/2012-BeachFill/121212-GSPPier.jpg[/img]

When they finish this will there be any water under the Four Seasons Pier? We are booked to be there at the end of March. If it's not going to be fishable, I'll cancel there, stay somewhere cheaper and closer to the GSP.