Completion of new Galveston Beach expected this week 4,500 feet of new beach east of 61st Street

The first sand being dumped west of the 61st Street jetty to create new beaches between 61st and 81st streets. The sand is being hauled by boat from dredging operations in the Galveston Ship Channel to a barge offshore of the re-sanding operation. Pumps on the barge will suck the sand out of the boat and into a pipe that will carry it on to the beach. 09/04/15. (Photos by ÂKim Christensen) less The first sand being dumped west of the 61st Street jetty to create new beaches between 61st and 81st streets. The sand is being hauled by boat from dredging operations in the Galveston Ship Channel to a barge ... more Photo: ÂKim Christensen, Photographer Photo: ÂKim Christensen, Photographer Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Completion of new Galveston Beach expected this week 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

GALVESTON – The final load of sand is expected to be pumped onto Galveston's newest beach this week, marking the end of the largest beach reconstruction project ever attempted on the island.

"We will be pumping another day or so," said Tricia Campbell, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager.

The Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., under contract to the Army Corps of Engineers, in August began hauling sand from Corps of Engineers dredging operations in the Houston Ship Channel to Galveston.

The sand was pumped from hopper dredges – large vessels built for holding dredged sand – to create a beach where none existed in front of the Galveston seawall between 61st and 81st streets.

By the time the final load of sand is delivered later this week. the contractor will have placed more than 500,000 cubic yards of sand and created 4,500 feet of new beach, Campbell said.

The project was begun at the request of the Galveston Park Board and the Texas General Land Office, which together paid the corps $8.9 million to move and place the sand that otherwise would have been dumped into the Gulf of Mexico, she said.

The corps paid $11 million for the dredging, Campbell said. The corps charged only enough to cover its costs, she said. "By no means are we making any kind of profit," Campbell said.