Posted on September 14, 2026
BAYOU LA BATRE — Mobile County director of environmental services Tina Sanchez gave an update on some of the County Commission’s projects, including the Dauphin Island Causeway Restoration, the Cedar Point Boat Ramp and the Salt Aire Shoreline Restoration.
Dauphin Island Causeway Restoration project
As one of the largest and most significant investments in Alabama coastal restoration, the Dauphin Island Causeway Restoration project is backed by Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR). The purpose is to protect Dauphin Island’s only access road and 300 acres of salt marsh habitat and to restore and rebuild the shoreline.
The project is broken into three phases, two of which are complete. Phase one involved constructing segmented breakwaters along the Causeway. Phase two was placing dredge materials between the breakwaters and the Causeway. Phase three is enhancing the newly established marsh platform.
“So, all that material is in place now,” Sanchez said. “It’s settling while the engineers of record, Moffatt and Nichol, finalize the bid specs for the phase three task, which is to level it out after it’s settled, cut in some tidal creeks and plant some marsh plantings.”
Sanchez said the project will focus on turbidity control as it continues. She said the project should be completed in 2027.
Salt Aire Shoreline Restoration project
Construction began on the Salt Aire Shoreline Restoration project in April. It will take 10 months to complete, weather permitting.
The Salt Aire marsh has experienced about 415 feet of shoreline erosion since the 1930s, according to the Mobile County Commission. The project will restore and protect marsh habitat and associated species that were injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Materials excavated from access channels are being placed in temporary banks and will be either degraded or placed within the restoration area at the end of the project.
“It’s underway right now,” Sanchez said. “Material is being placed to restore about 30 acres of marsh after the breakwaters are built. It’ll look very much like the Causeway project, quite frankly.”
The Mobile County Commission secured funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund for the project.
Cedar Point Boat Ramp project
The Cedar Point Boat Ramp project got underway on June 29 and is expected to take a year. The $6.5 million job includes the construction of the two-lane boat launch and finger piers to improve access and enhance safety for the area’s commercial oyster industry. The parking lot will accommodate 38 truck-trailers and 25 single-car vehicles. The lot will also include an ADCNR Marine Resources Division oyster management station.
“I think it’s going to be a great asset for the community, and I look forward to it being open next summer and there being a place for Marine Resources to have the oyster management station going forward,” Sanchez said.
