By RUSS HENDERSON
Staff Reporter
Less than a year after Hurricane Ivan doubled to $4 million the cost of a taxpayer-funded wall of sand to protect houses on Dauphin Island, federal engineers this summer will redesign the project yet again to account for beach erosion caused by Tropical Storm Cindy and Hurricane Dennis.
"We can't go in with the same plan we had at the start of the year," said Pat Robbins, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman, referring to the corps' post-Ivan plan unveiled in January that had doubled the project's original $2 million price tag.
The cost rose because of the addition of a wide shelf of sand, a replacement beach of sorts, to go under the berm on the island's southwest shore.
Corps officials said the latest redesign will move the projected start date forward from September to October. Robbins said it remains to be seen whether the redesign will yield a yet more expensive proposal. But Town Councilman Mike Tafra said it was "only realistic to think it'll be more expensive."
Link to the original Mobile Register article (registration required)
If settlement goes through, study will focus on impact of dredging on erosion -- with the possible result of $7.6 million for restoration
Here is a link to a blog with the latest news and information on Hurricane Dennis