Posted on May 22, 2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has finished a $6.5 million maintenance dredging project that began in December in Murrells Inlet.
The majority of the program was funded by President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure law.
“The project was definitely a success,” project manager Jacob Kyzar said. “We were able to dredge the channel to the desired depth we were trying to achieve to maintain navigation in Murrells Inlet.”
Beach areas that had cutter suction dredges shooting out sand six months ago are now laying flat, being enjoyed by beachgoers.
“I think they’ve done a really good job,” vacationer Janet Sullivan said. “Where we usually vacation in the Outer Banks, it’s not as big as a tidal change, so ocean comes up very quick, but it’s very beautiful.”
The federal navigation project makes up almost 2 miles with roughly 500,000 cubic yards of sand distributed onto Garden City beach and Huntington Beach State Park.
Kyzar said the project took a little longer than planned but that’s to be expected with such a large progrma and the South Carolina weather.
“Wintertime in South Carolina and in the Atlantic Ocean, you typically have higher wave heights, and more instability,” he said. “So, in December, we experienced a record high-tide event with [a] nor’easter … It caused some erosion on sand we had already placed, and it also resulted in some down time for the contractor.”
The beach has now been replenished, and boats can easily navigate into the channel because of the dredging project.
“The authorized channel at Murrells Inlet is 10 feet deep, and we were able to return the navigation channel to that depth,” Kyzar said. “It was previously shelled in, in areas where it was as little as 3 to 4 feet deep in the actual federal channel, and so, with this project we were able to return full navigation to the entrance channel of Murrells Inlet.”
