Posted on October 25, 2023
The city of Corpus Christi said its new Padre Island beach dredging and “beach nourishment” project, will give the public more space to enjoy the shore.
According to city engineers, this project will involve dredging the Packery Channel and then using that material to expand the section of the beach right in front of the sea wall, giving more space for people to drive, sit, or just enjoy.
The project is set to begin in November.
“They will start setting up the barge to dredge the material, and they will run a pipeline from the Packery Channel, where they are dredging to the area where the beach nourishment is going to happen,” said city of Corpus Christi Asst. Director of Engineering Brett Van Hazel.
The project, according to a map provided by the city, will begin at the community parking lot in front of the sea wall and goes all the way to Whitecap Beach.
“We are going to be putting new sand out to expand approximately 100 feet out into the water,” he said. “So, wherever you’re standing today — imagine you’re going to be able to stand 100 feet further out into the water.”
Van Hazel said this will give more beach access to the public.
“It’s easy access, and it’s always been good here -we’ve never had a bad time here and we’ve been coming for many years,” said tourists 3NEWS spoke with on the beach Monday.
Luckily for beachgoers, once this project kicks off, the beaches will remain open, but Van Hazel said it will be a 24/7 operation and that there will be noticeable changes during the process.
“The pipe will be buried at all the vehicle crossings, and then at pedestrian crosses, we will be putting wooden bridges — little wooden stairs for people to cross over the pipeline safely,” he said.
Van Hazel said the dredging material being used is recycled from the Packery Channel, which is cost effective, but it might come with an unpleasant smell.
“It’s kind of a temporary issue, but it will be occurring throughout the life of the dredging,” he said.
Van Hazel said the project is estimated to take about four months — maybe even sooner than that. He plans for that stretch of beach to be ready for Spring Break.
Van Hazel said this sort of project will require reoccurring maintenance every 10 years or so.
