Megadune’s 16 feet sweep Galveston’s West End

GALVESTON – You could once drive off the west end of the seawall and right onto the beach. Such a trip wouldn’t be advisable today — unless your car can handle an 11-foot vertical drop and a rocky landing.

By the end of next month, construction is expected to begin on the massive dune (Megadune) and beach reconstruction project that will dump sand on the beach at the West End. The dune will be 16-feet tall and 70 feet across on the bottom, Park Board Executive Director Kelly de Schaun said.

The beach from the west end of the seawall erodes at a rate of eight-feet per year, the highest rate of erosion on the island, according to a 2012 erosion response plan published by the city.

The West End is home to the Dellanera RV Park managed by the Park Board, the Seascape Condominiums that are home to more than 100 people, and FM 3005.

FM 3005 is the only evacuation route on the West End, so the city has an interest in protecting it from being swamped.

The Megadune is the result of three years of planning and coordinating between the Park Board, the city, the Texas General Land Office and the private property owners.

When work begins, trucks will carry sand, dredged from a marina off Harborside Dr., and deliver it to the beach. Bulldozers will push and scrape the sand along a 2,000-foot stretch of beach from the end of the Seawall all the way to the Dellanera RV Park.

The bulk of Megadune’s funding, more than $3 million, is coming from FEMA disaster recovery funds awarded to the city after Hurricane Ike.

The Texas General Land Office is contributing $775,000. The Industrial Development Corporation is contributing $110,000 and the Park Board is contributing $20,000.

The project is also, in a diversion from the norm, receiving more than $40,000 from the owners of the Seascape Condominiums.

Construction of the dune is expected to begin sometime in October. When it does, parts of the beach will be fenced off. Construction will occur seven days a week and will take up to four months to complete.

Listen to Podcast 229 for this story and lots of news.