Workers have started laying a pipeline that will be used as the conduit for about 900,000 cubic yards of sand to build a new beach south of Pascagoula’s Beach Boulevard.

The pipeline, expected to total about seven miles, was threaded under the U.S. 90 bridge this past week.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project engineer Maj. Adam Harless of the said placing the pipe will take three to four weeks for the $12.4 million project.

The sand will be dredged from the Pascagoula River navigation channel near the sand mounds south of Interstate 10 and north of U.S. 90.

The dredging operation is expected to continue for up to seven months.

About 1.5 miles of beach from Pascagoula’s Beach Park to the Point will be built.