Gulf State Park officials seek to dredge lakes, sink reefs

Gulf State Park officials seek to dredge lakes, sink reefs

Monday, September 08, 2008 By RYAN DEZEMBER Staff Reporter

GULF SHORES - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking public input on proposals from state officials to dredge parts of Shelby and Middle lakes as well as to turn Gulf State Park's old fishing pier into artificial reefs.

The dredge project, according to a Corps of Engineers public notice, is aimed not only at clearing out sand that blew into the lakes during hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, but also at rebuilding Gulf-front dunes.

To achieve these twin goals, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has applied to dredge 44,528 cubic yards of sand - nearly 2,800 dump trucks worth - from a 13.8-acre area in the southern part of Lake Shelby. The sand would then be pumped through an existing culvert beneath Alabama 182 to a 10.2-acre site just west of the park's fishing pier.

From the southeastern-most 16.3 acres of Middle Lake, the Conservation Department has asked to dredge and pump 52,594 cubic yards of sand. Those 3,300 truckloads would be pumped beneath the beach highway to a 9.1-acre area west of the park's beach pavilion, according to the proposal.

Once on the beach side of the highway, the sand will be shaped to replicate the contour of the dunes as they existed before the storms. Salt-tolerant plants and sand fencing will also be installed to help the restored dunes hold their shape, the corps said.

Besides wanting to improve habitat in the dunes around the Gulf State Park's fishing pier, Conservation Department officials have said they seek to better the living conditions for wildlife on the water bottom near the pier.

In a separate proposal, state officials have asked permission to tear down what remains of the park's old fishing pier, which was built in 1968 and destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and turn the material into 10 artificial reefs.

The reefs would measure 25 feet by 50 feet, according to the corps, and be sunk around the new fishing pier. Those that wind up in less than 20 feet of water will be

6 feet tall or less, and those in more than 20 feet of water will protrude from the bottom as much as 9 feet, according to a public notice.

The state also wants to install 20 round reefs that are

5 feet tall and 20 pyramid-shaped concrete reefs that are about 8 feet tall around the new pier.

Park Superintendent Hugh Branyan said state officials are hoping the reefs will lure, in addition to more fish, different species than are normally found near shore.

"We're thinking that even some snapper and grouper will come in," he said. "They're usually farther out but this will be a pretty good bunch of reefs."

Currently under construction, the new 1,512-foot-long pier, which sits about just east of the old structure, is expected to open by February. Nearly twice as long as the old pier and 50 percent wider, the new structure carries a $14 million price tag.