As the dredging devices move east down the beach many Gulf Shores home owners are cheering the efforts. In the past year the amount of sand had diminished so badly that some emergency vehicles could not pass along the sands in certain locations. This also meant that tourist were steering away from those areas as well.

In recent weeks Gulf Shores residents have seen the progress as Great Lakes Dredging has pumped over 300,000 cubic yards of sand onto the shores. If fact, when the project is complete, they will have pumped over 2 million cubic yards from Gulf Shores to Orange Beach.

SEE MORE DREDING DETAILS IN PAST ARTICLE:

So how much is the project costing the City of Gulf Shores? That was the question that Cindy King, Director of Finance and Administration for the city, answered this week for the council members.

During a "work session" for Gulf Shores' City Council Cindy King laid out the expense and sources of payment. The Gulf Shores portion is costing just over $18.6 million. To pay for the expense, FEMA/AEMA are picking up over $7 million dollars of the cost.

The City of Gulf Shores is paying for the remainder of the renourishment cost using portions of the City's Lodging Tax and General Funds (chart Below)

Cindy King added that this is the "projected" cost.