Posted on March 16, 2026
By Joy Crist
Plans to renourish the beaches in Avon and Buxton continue to advance after Dare County secured key permits and opened contractor bids, with county officials stating that construction is expected to take place this summer.
Dare County received two bids from Weeks Marine and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in February, and county staff are currently reviewing the proposals while refining the final scope of the beach nourishment effort.
“There is not a concrete estimated start date yet,” said Dare County Assistant Manager Dustin Peele.
A video released by Dare County this week stated that contractors will have until Dec. 31 to complete the beach nourishment, though officials expect construction to wrap up well before the end-of-year deadline.
The purpose of beach nourishment is to protect N.C. Highway 12 from ocean overwash, and at a Feb. 12 public meeting, county representatives and engineers outlined the design, location, and status of the two nourishment efforts, which will follow a similar approach to past beach widening projects on Hatteras Island.
Beach nourishment maintenance projects typically occur every five years, however, the Avon and Buxton projects were moved up to 2026 due to accelerated erosion.
Buxton Beach Nourishment in 2017
Both projects will rely on dredging sand from offshore borrow areas roughly two miles offshore, and pumping the material onto the shoreline through large pipelines connected to dredging vessels.
Once deposited on the shoreline, the sand will be shaped to widen the beach berm and rebuild or reinforce dunes where needed. Affected Buxton property owners are being asked by Dare County to grant dune-line easements, though participation is voluntary, and sections of the dune line will be left open where easements are not granted.
The Buxton nourishment project will cover roughly 2.9 miles of shoreline, stretching from the Haulover Day Use Area south to the groin near the former site of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This section was last nourished in 2022, when the beach was widened at a construction cost of $18,106,674. The project began on June 30, 2022, and was completed on Aug. 16, 2022.
Engineers say the upcoming nourishment effort in Buxton could be significantly larger than the 2022 project, potentially placing about twice as much sand, in part to account for erosion that has occurred in recent years.
While the Avon beach is generally in better condition than Buxton, engineers identified the area south of Avon Pier as the section experiencing the most erosion. That stretch will receive the highest density of sand placement, and the full Avon nourishment project will cover approximately 2.5 miles.
Aerial image of beach nourishment in Avon in 2022, courtesy of Coastal Science & Engineering. Photo taken on July 11, 2022.
The bids submitted by Weeks Marine and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock included two potential project scenarios, which Dare County is currently evaluating as it finalizes the design and scope of the nourishment work.
One factor that could influence the final size of the projects is the availability of FEMA Public Assistance funding tied to storm-related erosion.
According to Peele, the county expects FEMA to reimburse a portion of the sand replacement costs associated with storm damage, but those funds have not yet been received.
“The FEMA funding will impact the size of the project, which will impact how long the contractor needs to be on site working,” Peele said. “A smaller project should require fewer days.”
If the federal funding becomes available, Dare County would be able to place a larger volume of sand along both shorelines. If the funding is delayed or reduced, the county will still move forward but with a smaller project footprint.
In Dare County, beach nourishment projects are funded through a combination of occupancy tax revenue, Avon and Buxton service district taxes, and state or federal funding when available.
The primary source of funding is the county’s Beach Nourishment Fund, which receives revenue from a dedicated 2 percent portion of Dare County’s 6 percent occupancy tax on short-term rentals, including hotels, motels, cottages, and private residences. That portion of the tax is restricted by state legislation and can only be used for shoreline protection measures along the Atlantic Ocean beaches in Dare County.
While the nourishment work in Avon and Buxton is moving forward, another key component of shoreline management in Buxton — the repair of the southernmost oceanfront groin — is awaiting the last federal authorization.
Buxton jetties on October 8. Photo by Don Bowers.
According to Dave Connolly, chief of public affairs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the individual permit application for the groin repair project is in its final steps of review.
The Corps is currently engaged in formal consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate potential impacts to endangered species.
“We really hesitate to put a timeframe on these formal consultations as each one is unique based on the resources that could be affected by the proposed activity,” Connolly said.
However, he noted that consultations often average around six months, and with that broad timeframe in mind, the process could conclude by mid-summer if no complications arise.
The groin repair itself is expected to take approximately three months to complete once construction begins. Engineers say restoring the structure will help retain sand and improve the effectiveness of future nourishment projects by slowing the movement of sand away from the area.
County officials say additional updates on contractor selection, construction schedules, and project timelines will be released in the coming months as funding questions are resolved and final project details are confirmed.
For more information on Beach Nourishment projects in Dare County, visit MoreBeachToLove.com.
