Ocean Springs aldermen will hear plans Wednesday night for repairing and reinforcing the city’s damaged Front Beach sidewalk.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi — Engineers and contractors will pitch their ideas to Ocean Springs aldermen Wednesday night as the city works to come up with a plan to repair and provide a permanent solution for its Front Beach sidewalk problem.
A section of the sidewalk collapsed roughly two weeks ago after beach erosion in an area of Front Beach left the sidewalk with no support. Jackson County supervisors spent some $30,000 to haul in 2,500 cubic yards of sand to replenish that area of the beach, but officials say that’s only a temporary fix.
Last Friday, Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran and alderman John Gill met Dax Alexander of Brown, Mitchell Alexander engineering firm, as well as county Road Manager Joe O’Neal and a concrete specialist brought in by Alexander to view the damaged sidewalk and begin the process of developing a plan to fix it.
The first step in the process is to determine how much of the sidewalk has been compromised by erosion due to wave action and stormwater runoff from the properties north of Front Beach Drive.
“The recommendation was to do a radar scan of the areas (of the sidewalk) which appear to be compromised to determine where there are cavities,” Moran said.
The seat wall which runs along the sidewalk only extends four feet into the sand and is not designed to withstand “waves pounding against it,” Moran said, noting erosion in that section of Front Beach has long been a problem.
The long-term solution which will be presented to aldermen Wednesday night calls for a urethane resin to be injected into a cavity beneath the sidewalk and extending eight feet from the seat wall to provide extra protection from erosion. The remainder of any cavities found would be filled with a special concrete.
Moran said the county has agreed to assist with pulling up the sidewalk panels where cavities are found.
Jackson County Supervisor John McKay and alderman Matt McDonnell have both suggested moving the sidewalk north so that it can tie into the toe of the seawall, but both Alexander and his concrete specialist told Moran there would be no real benefit to making that change and moving the sidewalk would likely be far more costly than repairing it.
The $1.8 million sidewalk was built in 2010-11 and paid for through a Community Development Block Grant.
Moran has asked for cost estimates to repair and reinforce the sidewalk and said the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources officials have visited the site and indicated they may be willing to help pay for the work.
“I’m just trying to get everybody on the same page,” Moran said. “The county, engineers, aldermen — and come to an agreement on how to proceed.
“I want to put the info in front of (the aldermen) and let them make a decision. But it’s a pretty quick fix and a permanent one.”
Another ongoing issue affecting Front Beach is the condition of the landscaping around the sidewalk, much of which has fallen into a state of disrepair.
“We haven’t had the manpower to maintain it,” Moran admitted. “But the Summer Youth Corps is here working with Public Works. They’ve been out trimming the crepe myrtles on the highway and I expect they’ll start working on Front Beach soon.”
Moran said the Youth Corps workers will assist city landscaper Josh Dudte in “thinning out and weeding” areas of the beach landscaping which are in need.
“Once they get it thinned out, it will be easier to maintain,” Moran said, adding that pulling some of the healthy vegetation would simply create another problem by adding to beach erosion. The vegetation helps keep stormwater runoff from eroding the beach.
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