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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The original 1954 Queen Isabella Causeway is under demolition as part of a newly initiated project by the General Land Office of Texas and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Material from the original causeway will be used to create an artificial reef site located 10.1 miles offshore of the Brownsville Ship Channel entrance jetties at South Padre Island.
The project is expected to cost approximately $9.2 million and will serve as a habitat for marine life managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife.
A view of the original Queen Isabella Causeway. Photo courtesy of the Texas General Land Office
A view of the original Queen Isabella Causeway. Photo courtesy of the Texas General Land Office
A view of the original Queen Isabella Causeway. Photo courtesy of the Texas General Land Office
A view of the original Queen Isabella Causeway. Photo courtesy of the Texas General Land Office
A view of the original Queen Isabella Causeway. Photo courtesy of the Texas General Land Office
"I am thrilled to begin work on this project, which will utilize material from the defunct and hazardous Old Queen Isabella Causeway to create one of Texas's most extensive artificial reefs,” said Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham.
The project engineer, AECOM Technical Services, Inc., has been working with the project since 2021, and the project construction contract was awarded to Callan Marine LTD in May 2025.
The original causeway was replaced in 1974 with the current causeway that connects Port Isabel to South Padre Island.
A new causeway will soon be built approximately four miles north of the current causeway, between FM 106 and Park Road 100 on South Padre Island.
Construction on the new causeway project is expected to begin in 2029.
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