Hold the champagne, but not for long
August is target for completion of Piper Channel jetties, dredging
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

Almost there STAFF PHOTO BY MURRAY JUDSON to the marina and docks at Island Moorings, is expected to be Airport and Channel Corporation secretary-treasurer Paul Page finished by August, allowing for a deeper draft and less dredging gestures toward a section of the jetty at the mouth of Piper Channel as well as protecting the shoreline from erosion. that's nearly completed. The channel, which allows vessel access

They're not quite ready to break a bottle of champagne over a navigation marker yet, but the Airport and Channel Corporation board can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Piper Channel should be fully open and ready for boaters by August.

The Airport and Channel Corporation dates back to the time when it owned not only Piper Channel, but what is now Mustang Beach Airport as well. The corporation deeded the airport to the City of Port Aransas years ago, but it still is responsible for keeping the channel open to allow access to the Island Moorings marina and dock space.

Piper Channel, along with the shoreline of Charlie's Pasture that faces the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, was a victim of the big ships that steam in and out of the Port of Corpus Christi. Their wakes washing ashore eroded as much as 17 feet a year from the shoreline and hastened the closure of the mouth of Piper Channel.

Looking ahead Aerial photo taken May 14 looking northwest shows work in progress on the west (left) arm of the jetty. Workmen still have to complete the east (right) arm of the jetty. Solid red line shows finished work on STAFF PHOTO BY MURRAY JUDSON that side; dashed line shows where the jetty will be when completed. Work on the channel is expected to be finished in August. Project depth for the channel is seven feet.

Now, in conjunction with a project that either bulkheaded or put rocks along the shore of Charlie's Pasture, the channel is set to get a new set of jetties that engineers say will drastically reduce the need for dredging.

"The way the jetties are constructed, they're supposed to be self-scouring," said Paul Page, secretary-treasurer of the Airport and Channel Corporation. "At one time, we had to keep a dredge down here about 11-12 months out of the year."

The project came through the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program, a non-profit group that seeks to protect and restore bays and estuaries in the Coastal Bend. The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) contributed $2.9 million, the Texas General Land Office kicked in $2 million, Airport and Channel Corporation contributed $1.2 million and Cheniere Energy funneled $250,000 through the City of Port Aransas to pay for the project.

In all, it involved more than 47,300 tons of limestone rock, used for the revetment along the lower half of the ship channel. Areas closer to Port Aransas got concrete bulkheads.

It covers more than 6,000 feet of the shoreline.

Because no dredging has been done while work was under way, channel depth is "five feet, more or less," Page said. He added that work crews have said they'll assist any boat that has problems at the mouth of the channel.

When it's finished, project depth should put the channel at about seven feet.

"Right now, everything's going extremely well," Page said of work on the sheet metal jetties that will mark the final step in the channel mouth reconstruction.

"It's more stable and durable than anything we've had before," he said.

The project will protect more than 1,000 acres of wetlands and upland habitat from being eroded by ships' wakes, Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries said. The group called it "one of the largest shoreline protection projects ever."

The land behind the bulkhead, either leased from the General Land Office or bought by the City of Port Aransas, is destined to become the Charlie's Pasture Nature Preserve. Planners are in the final stages of laying out pathways and observation points for the preserve.