Galveston Beaches to be Replenished

GALVESTON, TX — Pay attention to the beaches from 12th to 61st streets, they're about to get wider.

The Galveson Park Board plans to siphon some of the sand from Big Reef, which is actually a sand bar at the east end of the Island, and dump it on about 4 miles of beaches.

The loads of sand will initially bloat the beaches to something like 300-350 yards wide, but erosion will bring it back down to a nice manageable 100-150 yards wide.

Want more Clear Lake and Bay Area news? Click here for our free daily newsletter and breaking news

Once everything gets underway, it will take about five months to complete the project. The pumping was supposed to begin in February so that the new beaches would be ready by July 4, but a condo association had some problems the park board running pipes across their property.

Instead of begging and pleading with the condo owners, the parks board called an audible and asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permission to run the pipeline offshore. It took the corps a while to review the plans, but in the end approval was given.

This isn't the first, or even the most expensive, beach reclamation project Galveston has undertaken. The City on the Island has spent decades dumping sand onto its gulf-facing side. Last year, the park board spent $23 million to create a beach from 61st Street to 75th Street.

Apparently, there hadn't been any beach in front of that particular patch of the seawall since the Kennedy Administration. When the last truckload of sand was spread around the new beach was named after former Galveston legislator A.R. "Babe" Shcwartz.