Every year, Evansvillians celebrate the last gasp of summer on a sandy strip smack in the middle of the Ohio River. Pump-Out Island is a curious sight, not least because it seems to appear out of nowhere. But where did the island come from? Why is it there? Hereโs the backstory.
Itโs an Army Corps of Engineers project.
Fun as it looks, the island has a practical purpose. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is required to maintain a channel that is 300 feet wide and nine feet deep for towing vessels. When the riverbed becomes shallow from shifting sediment, called shoaling, dredging is necessary to clear the navigational channel for marine traffic.
Traditionally, a USACE team โ Evansville is within the Louisville, Kentucky, district โ uses a hydraulic dredge around Ohio River Mile 792 near Downtown Evansville to relocate sediment from the ship channels to an interior disposal area. Over 3-5 days, the dredge gradually moves north, pumping โ hence the nickname โ sand surfaced from the riverbed into a skinny strip.
The public is welcome to visit …
In past years, boaters didnโt wait for dredging to be completed before making waves over to the resulting island. Nor is it uncommon to see upward of 50 watercraft crowded around it on a Saturday afternoon.
Visitors haul out volleyball nets, beach chairs, and even charcoal grills to make the most of their leisure time. Officials have one rule: anything you bring onto the island, you take with you when you leave …
โฆ but sometimes, someone makes mischief.
Years ago, a pickup truck was carted out to the island overnight night โ and stayed there. It caused a ruckus, but nothing like in August 2022, when a camper suddenly appeared. Christened with a crude nickname, it shaded picnicking families and inspired a social media investigation for who was responsible. (A Corps spokesperson said the person responsible had been identified, but the Corps declined to pursue criminal charges.) Heavy rainfall, which caused the camper to fill with water and sink into the river, cut the islandโs summer season short. It crashed into debris and broke into pieces during the subsequent tow job. The following summer, authorities issued a stern warning for anyone itching to drag out Camper 2.0, and visitors wisely took heed and behaved.
The sand is Instagram-worthy.
True, itโs sediment from a riverbed, but you wouldnโt know that when stepping onto the sandbar. The dredged sand is the color of light brown sugar and is equally sweet to step on.
โItโs like having an ocean beach right in our backyard,โ Ryan Sermersheim told Evansville Living in 2021.
