By Jacques Hallé, World Weather Post

In the southern part of South Padre Island Texas, there is too much sand at the bottom of the Brownsville channel entrance. At the same time, there is not enough sand in the more northern part of the island’s beach. What to do? The answer is to dredge the channel and pump the sand through large pipes from the channel entrance near Isla Blanca Park, all the way up to the northern part of the beach near Andie Bowie Park. A 5 mile (8km) stretch. In essence, recycling sand. As we say, killing two birds with one stone.

The Port of Brownsville  is an important centre of industrial development, located at the southern-most tip of Texas, just a few miles from the Mexican border. Its 17 mile (27km) long channel meets the Gulf of Mexico at the Brazos Santiago Pass, next to South Padre Island, a  small resort town with a population of 2500, beautiful beaches and semi- tropical weather. The channel entrance gradually fills up with time, as sand from the Gulf is naturally transported by wind and currents. Any disruption in the navigation caused by a shallow channel must be avoided and would represent a huge financial loss for the shipping industry. 

On the other hand, South Padre Island’s survival depends on its beaches. These beaches are regularly eroded by tropical storms and hurricanes; moreover, the natural erosion process driven by waves and ocean currents  has a net  tendency to transport beach sand in a north-south direction, thus resulting in a sand deficit in the northen sections and a sand surplus in the southern sections of the island.

This year, in 2011, a joint dredging and beach nourishment project has been undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with the city of South Padre Island. Started in January, the 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. (Island Breeze)”. 

This type of project is not new to South Padre Island. There has been similar projects in the last few years.

Follow the story in pictures:

A joint dredging and beach nourishment project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city of South Padre Island, worth close to 4.5 million$  .

The “Alaska”, dredging the Brownsville channel entrance. The dredged material (sand) is pumped from the boat through the large pipes towards the beach.

Large pipe, approximately 3 feet in diameter.

Junction of sea and land pipes.

5 miles (8km) of pipes run along the beaches of South Padre Island. 

Undisturbed beach goers.

The beach extended into the ocean as a result of beach nourishment. Near Andy Bowie Park.

Bulldozers moving the sand coming out of the pipe, into the ocean.