Watching as workers installed a bulkhead along the nearly-complete canal system Wednesday, Flour Bluff ISD students got a behind-the-scenes look at the planned Whitecap Preserve development on North Padre Island.
Project engineers LJA Engineering invited students from Flour Bluff ISD science and construction classes to visit the site and see some of the canal work. The developers, Ashlar Development, have also partnered with the district’s Oceans Program — students will be able to visit the development’s wetland for marine science lessons.
“This project is a great one to really showcase because it runs the gamut of all the different disciplines in civil engineering,” LJA Engineering public works vice president Jeff Coym told the students.
Included in the project are canals, roads and bridges. Eventually, the project will include hundreds of homes, as well as hotels, retail shops and marine facilities.
The Whitecap canals will link to existing dead-end canals and Packery Channel, allowing waters from the Gulf of Mexico and Laguna Madre to flow through the canal systems.