Posted on March 18, 2026
By Angie Angers
MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — More than one month into the long-awaited dredging project in John’s Pass, the city of Madeira Beach confirms the contractor is only about 20% complete.
A spokesperson for the city said it’s a “slow process” as the contractor, Bayside Dredging, works to pull roughly 13,000 cubic yards of sand out of the area under the John’s Pass bridge.
As dredging takes place, sand is pumped into a large steel container located in John’s Pass Park. From there, it’s transferred using heavy machinery into a dump truck and hauled about 1.5 miles to a drop-off location by Tom Stewart Causeway. The city says the contractor hauls 12 to 14 truckloads of dredge material each workday to the dump site.
Under the city’s contract, the project is expected to be completed within 90 days.
Resident Mark Albright watches the dredging process every morning and says it’s been moving very slow. He’s not sure if they will be able to finish in the 90-day window.
“They only have one truck, so then they have to stop dredging to wait for their truck to come back from dumping the sand,” he said. “It just seems to be very slow and meticulous.”
For almost 30 years, the city of Madeira Beach has seen excess sand pile up on the northern end of John’s Pass. It’s caused issues with swimming conditions and strong currents. The city’s fire chief says John’s Pass has become the number one location for water rescues because of the current that’s been created by the sand.
When the project is done, the city says the “false beach” will be completely removed. That stretches from the John’s Pass boardwalk and nearby boat slips to the gulf side of the bridge.
This work has been years in the making. State Rep. Linda Chaney presented the city commission with a $1.5 million state grant to pay for the dredging in 2022. The project was delayed due to turnover in the city and permitting issues, and the city was forced to ask the state for an extension to the grant, which was granted.
Work officially kicked off on Feb. 9.
