Heavy sand being placed on the beach to help keep sand off Hwy 90 in Biloxi

Heavy sand brought in from Picayune is being laid on top of the sand beach in Biloxi to help keep sand from blowing onto Highway 90.

The heavy sand is part of a $3 million beach project that has been going on for several years.

The sand is being dumped from Oak Street down to the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor. It also includes a new mile-long ten-foot wide boardwalk, east of the beach, with an 18-inch high knee wall to help trap blowing sand from reaching Highway 90. The boardwalks have already been completed.

A future addition to the same area will include an expansion Kuhn Street boat launch and parking bays. However, one third of the funding involves changing to a less powdery sand that will help reduce accidents. Public Affairs Specialist John Majure said, “You got the highway, it’s a little bit faster. 45 miles per hour, but you hit sand at that speed, you lose steering control, breaking control. So, a lot of safety issues relating to that. The city spends hundreds of thousands of dollars just on our part of clearing the highway, just in our section of Highway 90.”

The added sand is scheduled to be completed by early summer.