By David Rainer
Alabama Department for Nature Conservation and Natural Resources
If you have traveled to Dauphin Island in the past two years, you have obviously noticed all the work that continues along the Dauphin Island Causeway. Rows of riprap, stacks made of excavator material and heavy equipment for more than 3 miles on the east side of the street.
The Dauphin Island Causeway Shoreline Restoration Project is carried out in three phases to improve and protect the only access road from Dauphin Island to the mobile County Festival.
Phase 1 comprised segmented breakwater with the rock along more than 3 miles of the dam, with the northern section from Bayfront Park to Jemison's Bait Shop and in the southern department of Heron Bay Cutoff to Cedar Point.
Phase 2 contains the absorption of excavator material from work on the mobile ship's channel and the turning pool and the placing between the Causeway and Breakwaters. In addition to the breakwater, a sandberm is also built for additional containment and imitation of the natural habitat.
Phase 3 includes the planting of native grasses and the production of tidal streams after founding the swamp platform. The gaps in the Breakwaters enable the flood flow and offer the habitat for kindergarten such as shrimps, crabs and a variety of fish species. It is expected that vegetation lasts three to five years to fully establish itself.
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In 2004, the US Army Corps of Engineers created a preliminaray report in which it was pointed out that work had to be carried out to protect the dam due to its susceptibility to tropical storms, from depression to complete hurricanes. The road was usually flooded and sometimes washed out during the storms. The Mobile County Environmental Services began in 2018 with the Commissioner of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) Chris Blankenhip and the Mobile Bay National Estuary program to start the restoration process.
“The community is aware of this problem and we tried to work together to restore resources for more than 20 years,” said Tina Sanchez, director of Mobile County.
After the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) approved Mobile County's proposal for the financing of the project, the wave traffic system completed in 2024 began. The wave water system protects against wave actions and contains excavators and other material that is placed between the dam and the breakwater to build a living swamp.
“At the moment this is the exciting time,” said Sanchez. “I think it is important to talk about the advantageous use of the excavator material. The US Army Corps of Engineers puts material in front of the excavator goods to restore about 100 hectares of Marsh.
“This would not be possible without several partnerships and the advantageous utility program (DREDGE material). We would not have been able to do this without the material of the US Army Corps of Engineers. We got it for one dollar per cubic fairs if it had not been available, and if the corps no longer existed.
With the exception of the Cutoffs from Heron Bay to the Cedar Point, the Sumblebenkraum is restored. Placing the excavator material should be completed until late autumn this year.
“This is a great example of a project that benefits the community and the resilience factor of the community,” said Sanchez. “Coastal stabilization protects the newly restored swamp, but it also protects the road that is the only way in and outside of Dauphin Island. Above all, it also protects the 200 to 300 hectares west of the dam. It is also a critical habitat for the critic we love to catch and eat.
Blankenship comes from Dauphin Island and is fully aware of what the Causeway project means for the island, especially in times of bad weather.
“This is a very large project, the great coordination between Mobile County, the US Army Corps of Engineers, Moffat and Nichols, ADCNR, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, who took Mobile Bay Nep and many others,” said Blankenship. “I am pleased to see the progress in this project every time I travel to Dauphin Island. See how big projects like this get together and move into the finish line, all in this process gives us a great feeling of performance. I am so grateful for the work relationships that we have in the coast of Alabama! They are a lot of really good things that do really good things.”
The mayor of Dauphin Island, Jeff Collier, believes that the Causeway project will have a significant impact on those who live on Barrier Island.
“I think what is most important for Dauphin Island is the fact that it will help to protect and defend our only entry and exit,” said Collier. “This area becomes quite vulnerable in tropical storms. Because of this project, we should give us a little more time to evacuate if necessary. It will buy more time at the front end, and at the back of a storm, I think it will be a little faster again. I think our time in this type of events will shorten.
“Of course, this is not to mention all contributions that will do this for the environment and the habitat. We have everything about ecotourism and all of these connections together.”
The Moffat & Nichol engineering office has been involved in the Causeway project since the design phase. Meg Goecker, Vice President and Senior Coastal Scientist at Moffat & Nichol said that the plans for the restoration of damways should be aware of all types of plants and animals affected by the construction.
“We were very close to the public oysters, so we had to be very careful with this design to contain the entire sediment,” said Goecker. “The corps put this excavator material on a scow and moved it along the entire ship's channel to pump it behind the breakwater. Otherwise they would throw all the material off the coast or in a highland relaxation location. It protects about 3.5 miles of the dam.
“It is great, because if this east wind is blowing, your car is not with salt water and there are no debris on the street. More people will help close the dam during a storm. Apart from the fact that a large habitat is created, it helps all Dauphin island residents to help the residents of Dauphin Island.
Goecker repeated the assessment that the commitment of the corps provided the excavator material for the Causeway project.
“If we had tried to procure 900,000 cubic meters of material for the production of the swamp platform, it would have cost between 20 and $ 30 dollars per meter to collect it,” she said. “The Corps only calculated 1 US dollar per cubic meter. This price difference helped the corps to achieve its advantageous usage goals that they had set for the excavator material. We have lost so many wetlands so that these restoration projects are much cheaper.”
Goecker said
“This is one of the best places for oysters spit and oyster growth,” she said. “With all these rocks, I think that next spring we will probably see good oysters for adults on these rocks. These rocks can appear as small oyster healers in which they can feed the public reefs by bringing out more spit.
“With phase 3 next year with the tidal streams and the swamp platform it is so
The financing of the 30 million dollar project comes from the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund from NFWF, which was derived from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Settleement and the NFWF fund of the emergency coast.
“We worked on what we call transformation projects in Mobile County, with olpest dollars,” said Sanchez. “This is an opportunity for the (mobile county) commission to transform South Mobile County by investing in the infrastructure that benefits the residents and visitors and swamps in South Mobile County.
“Commissioner Chris Blankenship was a strong advocate of this project. We are working closely with the Department of Conservation on this and other project because we share the obligation to use ÖLPEST dollars in order to make South Mobile County a better place to live.”