January 13, 2017

The Gulf Islands National Seashore will be the site of the largest coastal sand restoration project in U.S. history. As part of ongoing restoration and protection efforts an agreement between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the United States Army Corps of Engineers will restore the seashore with sand from the outer continental shelf.

Ship Island within the Gulf Islands State Park will be restored with 19.6 million cubic yards sand.  That is roughly the volume of 14 Empire State Buildings. The project will utilize outer continental shelf sand rather than near-shore sources because of potential impacts to coastal systems.

Source: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management