December 2, 2020
Final dune pushing and sand-sifting is slated to happen soon on Oak Island. Contractors are also pulling sand from the shoaled shipping channel onto Bald Head Island this winter, then later placing sand from Jay Bird Shoals onto eroded portions of Oak Island.
Oak Island signed the “notice to proceed” Monday with Southern Disaster Recovery for sifting and placement of overwashed sand, said Town Manager David Kelly. The work involves cleaning debris-laden sand at beach access areas from Middleton Avenue heading west to around 30th to 33rd Place West, he said. Debris from the sand will go to the landfill, and placement of sand should begin by the end of the week of December 7-11, he said.
Engineers have estimated the volume of sand directly recovered from Hurricane Isaias at 40,000 cubic yards. For comparison, a the Goodyear Blimp is 7,500 cubic yards.
Early work on Oak Island’s beaches will also include an unfinished “push” of sand from the low water mark to the dune line down to a depth of one foot. The work will start around 42nd Place West and continue west in an area that was known to have sea turtle nests during the first phase of recovery. All documented sea turtle nests in Brunswick County have hatched and been inventoried, so they are now safe from earth-moving activities.
Bald Head Island
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock will remove 1.49-million cubic yards of material from the Wilmington Harbor shipping channel, with staging set for December 16 and dredging scheduled to begin December 20, said Carin Faulkner, spokeswoman for the village government.
Work will put sand near the 200 block of South Bald Head Wynd and continue on South Beach to around the Shoals Club. The work is expected to end around the second week in February, when the dredge will relocate to deliver sand from Jay Bird Shoals on to portions of Oak Island.
On Bald Head, Faulkner cautioned that the beach would remain open except the areas of immediate construction where a 1,000-foot section of the beach will be closed at any given time when nourishment is underway. There will be a large pipe that carries the sand slurry down the beach and heavy excavation equipment that will be working around the clock. There will also be noise from the large machinery, including the “back-up signals” from the machines required for the safety of the crew. Sand ramps will be spaced along the beach approximately every 400 feet to allow beachgoers to walk over the pipe and access the ocean.
More information and updates are available at https://villagebhi.org/wilmington-harbor-inner-ocean-bar-project/.
Back to Oak Island
After Great Lakes Dredge and Dock finishes work on Bald Head Island, the dredge is set to relocate to Oak Island, where it will put sand from Jay Bird Shoals along the eastern portion of the shore, starting roughly where a 2018 renourishment project ended and moving west toward Middleton.
The work includes disaster-funded sand from losses from Hurricane Matthew, along with money to enhance sea turtle nesting habitat.
The town’s share of the $15.6-million project is $5.2-million, which includes some work not covered by the state and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), town officials said.
The project is intended to restore at least some of the 300-foot-wide berm lost in recent storms and it must be finished by early spring to avoid interaction with nesting sea turtles.
Town Council is scheduled to continue discussions on whether and how to pay for larger, long-term sand projects. Options on the table include municipal service districts, bonds and directly raising property taxes.