CPRA’s Caminada Headland Among the Best Restored Beaches

For the second time in recent years, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has been named a national winner for Best Restored Beaches from the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA).

CPRA’s Caminada Headland Beach and Dune Restoration project restored more than 13 miles of beach and dune stretching from the mouth of Bayou Lafourche below Port Fourchon in Lafourche Parish eastward to the end of Elmer’s Island in Jefferson Parish.

The project restored more than 1,059 acres of beach, dune and subtidal habitats by placing more than 8.8 million cubic yards of sand from the Ship Shoal Borrow Area in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 36 miles from the project.

“This project protects Port Fourchon, one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure along coastal Louisiana, as well as thousands of acres of marsh along the LA-1 Corridor. The Caminada Beach Headland project serves as a prime example of how our projects can protect critical infrastructure, create coastal habitat, and preserve a working coast,” said CPRA Board Chairman Chip Kline.

“We used two methods of sediment excavation and delivery,” said CPRA Project Manager Brad Miller. “One method used a cutter head dredge to load scows with sand, then transported the scows as much as 30 miles to the project site where an unloader resuspended the sediment and pumped it to the beach. We also made use of hopper dredges to excavate sediment, sail it to a nearshore pump-out area near the headland, and then pump it to the beach.”

ASBPA, formed in 1926, is an association of beach and coastal practitioners, including beach towns and managers, coastal engineers, coastal geologists, dredging and ecological restoration companies, coastal academics and students.

It seeks to address coastal erosion and the loss of sand on America’s beaches. Since 2002 ASBPA has made annual awards to communities that have recently undergone nourishment or full restoration.