Galveston beaches to get wider

A $23 million beach restoration project - the largest in the state's history - was completed last November in Galveston. Previously, there was nothing but moss-covered rocks in the area, from 61st to 76th Streets. less A $23 million beach restoration project - the largest in the state's history - was completed last November in Galveston. Previously, there was nothing but moss-covered rocks in the area, from 61st to 76th ... more Photo: Jennifer Reynolds/The Daily News, Photo Editor Photo: Jennifer Reynolds/The Daily News, Photo Editor Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Galveston beaches to get wider 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

GALVESTON — Visitors to Galveston can expect to find wider beaches on a 4-mile-long stretch next spring as a result of an $18.5 million beach renourishment project that is going forward.

Crews are expected to begin putting new sand on a stretch in front of the seawall in October after officials bypassed a dispute with condo owners who had opposed the plans, the Galveston Park Board was told Tuesday.

Work was scheduled to begin in February, but two condominium associations objected when they learned that the plan called for laying pipe on a route that passed in front of their beachfront condominiums, said Kelly de Schaun, executive director of the Galveston Park Board. The pipe was to carry the sand from Big Reef, a growing sand bar at the east end of Galveston Island.

The condominium association bylaws require all condo owners to approve any project that runs across their property, a goal that Park Board officials decided was an impassable obstacle.

"We thought it wasn't realistic to get 100 percent because there was already some pushback," said de Schaun.

Instead, officials decided to ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which issues permits for coastal construction, for approval to run the pipeline offshore in front of the condominiums and three other sections of beachfront private property. The Corps of Engineers OK'd the plans last week, enabling the beach project to go forward, de Schaun told the board.

The sand pipeline will run 6.4 miles from Big Reef to 61st Street and pour new sand on about 4 miles of beaches, from 12th to 61st streets. The new sand will initially extend the beach's width from 300 to 350 yards, but wave action should eventually reduce it to between 100 and 150 yards, according to a park board spokeswoman. The project will take about five months to complete, she said.

Last year, the Park Board used Corps of Engineers sand to build a new beach from 61st Street to about 75th Street, an area in front of the seawall where there had been no sand since at least 1960. The new beach, named Babe's Beach in honor of former Galveston legislator A.R. "Babe" Schwartz, has been heavily used.

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