Before-and-after photos of John’s Pass dredging project. It’s now complete

Visitors watch a dredging crew pump out sand from John's Pass Village & Boardwalk on March 25 in Madeira Beach.

Before-and-after photos show the area where over 13,000 cubic yards of sand was removed.

Thirty years after it was first identified as a problem, the long-awaited dredging of John’s Pass is finally complete.

Bayside Dredging, the company contracted for the project, removed more than 13,000 cubic yards of sand from the pass, helping to restore safer navigation through one of Pinellas County’s busiest waterways. The dredged material was hauled about 1.5 miles to a city-owned property at 555 150th Ave., where it will be stockpiled for future use as fill material.

A fisherman casts while dredging begins in March along John's Pass. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]

Bayside Dredging checks the depth while surveying near the John's Pass Bridge. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]

At an average of 15 cubic yards per truckload, the operation required roughly 870 trips between the pass and the storage site. Work began Feb. 9 and wrapped up May 28.

A section of a public parking lot served as the project’s staging area, while the remainder of the lot stayed open to beachgoers and visitors throughout construction.

Dangerous currents have plagued the John's Pass area for decades due to sand building along the pass. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]

Shoppers spend time at the John's Pass Village & Boardwalk which is near the area where dredging took place in Madeira Beach. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]

“Our method was not only efficient, but it allowed the parking lot to stay open, which allowed the public to use the beach and kept the small businesses on the boardwalk generating revenue,” said John Schamp, vice president of Bayside Dredging.

The buildup of sand in the pass had long been considered a public safety concern because of strong currents and restricted navigation. With the channel restored, boaters will have improved access to local marinas, while the dredging is also expected to benefit the surrounding marine ecosystem.

Sand is pumped through pipes and into a large container. The sand ended up in dump trucks, then was hauled away. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]

Crew members from Bayside Dredging watch as sand is transferred to a dump truck. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]

“The project went exceptionally well and exactly as planned,” Schamp said. “The only hurdle we had to battle was getting the dredge flow rate dialed in at the beginning and dealing with the ripping current.”