Carolina Beach nourishment project set to begin in an effort to protect the coast

Coastal erosion off the coast of NC has been exacerbated by climate change, researchers say, leaving local communities like Carolina Beach to take on major beach nourishment projects.

Bill Abrams paused after navigating the shallow strip of dry sand between the encroaching waves and the nearly 8-foot escarpment that had been carved into the dune line near the north end of Carolina Beach.

“Wow,” said the Ohio resident, a frequent visitor to Pleasure Island, on a nippy but sunny early November morning. “I don’t ever remember it being this bad.”

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Despite the Tar Heel State avoiding any direct hurricane strikes this season, it’s been a tough summer for the N.C. coast. A series of hurricanes moving offshore have sent strong swells landward, lashing the coast for seemingly weeks at a time. Several storm systems also have moved through the area, adding to the heavy surf and rough ocean conditions.

The result has been a host of communities along the coast wondering how to mitigate the erosion woes that has seen sand, some just freshly pumped onto the beaches, washed away and dunes scarred and chewed up.

While the Outer Banks have been hit particularly hard, with Buxton on Hatteras Island seeing nine homes crumble into the ocean since mid-September, Carolina Beach also has seen its share of coastal woes.

It’s a situation that has been exacerbated by the federal nourishment project for Pleasure Island getting delayed a year due to sky-high bids. The beach-building work, primarily funded by the federal government, generally takes place every four years.

But the proverbial cavalry is on the way, with Norfolk Dredging Co. scheduled to start pumping sand from Carolina Beach Inlet before Thanksgiving.

Here are details about the upcoming $23.5 million nourishment project that will see an estimated 1.6 million cubic yards of sand pumped onto Carolina and Kure beaches between late November and April 2026.

The nourishment project is expected to move into Kure Beach around February, with roughly 18,000 feet of beachfront receiving fresh sand. (USA Today via Reuters)

Why was the nourishment project delayed?

With prices coming in well above predictions, some Cape Fear-area beach towns saw their projects for winter 2024 wash away − at least temporarily. That’s what happened with the project for Carolina and Kure beaches.

Surging demand for dredges in the wake of the battering beaches all along the Gulf and East coasts took earlier this decade coupled with just a handful of U.S. companies capable of doing the work meant there were a lot of communities chasing just a few opportunities to get sand pumped onto their beaches.

In the case of the Pleasure Island project, the Army Corps of Engineers estimated the work would cost about $20 million. The only bid came in at $37.5 million, prompting the government to rebid the project for this winter.

The contract for this winter’s Pleasure Island project is $23.5 million. According to corps and New Hanover County officials, the cost-share of the Carolina Beach portion of the project is 50% federal, 25% county, and 25% state. In Kure Beach, the break down is 65% federal, with New Hanover and Raleigh splitting the remaining 35%.

The beach is narrow and eroded in parts of Carolina Beach, especially at the north end. (USA Today via Reuters)

Why is the work taking place this winter?

In short, because of environmental, economic and visual considerations.

Work on beaches and in many cases dredging of coastal waters is only allowed to take place during the colder months to protect nesting sea turtles and shorebirds.

Then there’s the economic reality that tourists, with many paying a pretty penny to stay at the coast, don’t want to be sharing the beach with heavy equipment and having to scramble over huge pipes at only certain locations to access the ocean. And the visual aesthetics might not be the best selling point to draw them back, a major concern when tourism is the lifeblood of almost all beach communities.

What does the nourishment entail?

The work, which can start Nov. 16 with dredging and needs to wrap up by April 30, 2026, will see 800,000 cubic yards pumped onto Carolina Beach, with crews working north to south.

Freeman Park, the undeveloped park at the northern tip of Carolina Beach popular with offroad beach drivers and fishermen, will stay open during the nourishment project − although access to certain areas could be limited due to the park being the epicenter for equipment storage and piping reaching up to Carolina Beach Inlet.

The sand sources for the work are the nearby inlet and, if needed, a borrow site roughly a few hundred feet offshore from Salt Marsh Lane.

Officials said beach access points to the water over the dredge piping, which is expected to snake all the way down the beach into Kure Beach, are planned every 400 feet.

According to the corps’ sand placement tracker webpage, the first sand is expected to hit the beach around Nov. 23, reaching the Kure Beach town line around Christmas.

What about Kure Beach?

The Kure Beach portion of the project involves an estimated 757,000 cubic yards of sand pumped onto roughly 18,000 feet of beachfront.

According to current scheduling estimates, sand should start arriving on the beach in February with the work wrapping up in early April.

The primary source of sand will be a borrow area several hundred feet off the Kure beachfront.

As with past nourishment projects, the very southern tip of Kure Beach is not included in the nourishment. That’s because of the presence of a coquina rock outcropping, which is considered protected marine habitat and cannot be covered in sand.

That’s left The Riggings condominium complex on the town’s very southern tip relying on sandbags for decades to hold back the encroaching Atlantic.

Could there be even more sand coming to Pleasure Island?

Yes, with the corps planning to conduct maintenance dredging of parts of the Intracoastal Waterway, including in the vicinity of Freeman Park, this winter.

The project could mean more sand for Carolina Beach, especially Freeman Park, which has seen severe erosion in recent years.

But there’s a potential catch.

“Timeline for this project are anticipated to occur this winter but are dependent on when projects utilizing the same dredge further north are completed,” the Carolina Beach stated in a Nov. 3 news release.

Reporting by Gareth McGrath, USA TODAY NETWORK / Wilmington StarNews

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect