Fairhope has a refreshed bayfront beach after crews spent more than a week hauling in roughly 3,000 tons of sand to repair a badly eroded stretch of shoreline on Mobile Bay.
The city council approved contracts in late June to supply and haul sand to Magnolia Beach, the popular stretch between the Pier Street boat ramp and the Pecan Avenue pier along the city’s Eastern Shore Trail. One Foley-based company was contracted to supply up to 5,850 tons of sand for roughly $35,100, while a Loxley-based trucking company was paid nearly $34,800 to haul it to the site.
City officials say the project became necessary after erosion along the beach reached a point where it was no longer safe for public use. Fairhope’s mayor said the deteriorating conditions left the city with little choice but to act, given how heavily used the beach area is by residents and visitors walking the scenic Eastern Shore Trail along Mobile Bay.
As of early July, the city’s public works director said the project was roughly 90 percent finished, with delays at the sand supplier’s pit pushing final completion into the following week. Officials ended up needing less sand than initially planned, meaning the city expected to save around $28,000 compared to the original contracted amount, since haulers and suppliers are paid only for material actually used.
Each truckload delivered to the site carried about 20 cubic yards, or roughly 27 tons, of sand. Public works crews handled the labor-intensive task of spreading and shaping the new sand by hand to help keep costs down, with the bulk of that work completed over a weekend following the initial round of deliveries that began in late June.
Officials said a handful of additional truckloads were still needed to finish the stretch nearest the boat ramp, with plans to bring in a dozen or more additional loads to extend the restoration work to the south side of the Pecan Avenue pier. City leaders expect to need similar sand replenishment work every two to three years to keep pace with natural erosion, and have discussed longer-term solutions such as nearshore oyster reefs or other structures designed to reduce wave action along the shoreline.