- Padre Island canal bulkheads failed during Tropical Storm Alberto in June 2024.
- The bulkhead damage led to several homeowners decks, docks, and backyards collapsing into the canals.
- The Padre Isles Property Owners Association (PIPOA) has been working on bulkhead repairs for a few months.
- Repair work is expected to be complete before the end of the year.
Bulkheads on the Padre Island canals failed during Tropical Storm Alberto in June which caused severe damage to several neighbors properties.The Padre Isles Property Owners Association (PIPOA) has been working on repairs to fix the bulkheads for a few months, and according to PIPOA Executive Director Rick McGinley, the work is about halfway done.
"The update is, we have stabilized the property through a previous action. Now, we've completed the engineering work to design a new bulkhead. We got stamp drawings very recently. We've got three to five qualified contractors that are capable of installing the materials. We are going out with a bid package to select the correct contractor," McGinley said.
The previous action McGinley is referring to is the construction of a dam underneath of the Don Patricio Bridge, to slow the flow of the water moving through the canals.
“And we built an inner wall out of the 14-foot true line material that we had on hand. And the purpose of that wall was to stabilize the properties, so we didn’t have anymore washout," McGinley said.
According to McGinley, it is the homeowners responsibility to remove the damaged parts of their decks and docks. However, the damaged bulkheads are the PIPOA's responsibility.
“We have to remove the residual bulkhead, not the residual bulkhead, but the deck and dock material and boat life material, so that we can gain access to where the new bulkhead has gotta go," McGinley said.
After the PIPOA chooses a contractor, it will be a matter of weeks until the bulkhead repairs are complete.
“Some of the contractors we’ve talked to have said that they could install 150 feet of bulkhead material in as little as two weeks. I’m not that optimistic. I think it’s probably gonna take between two weeks and a month, probably.”
McGinley expects all repair work to be completed before the end of 2024.
“And of course, I know the folks involved would really like to see it happen faster, but what we did was an emergency repair, which we had license to go do that. The final repair has to have all of the i's dotted and the t's crossed on the design for the bulkhead. Because this is likely going to be the design of the future for any additional bulkhead replacement," McGinley said.
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