Posted on June 30, 2016
By Teresa Moss, The Island Packet
Denise Wells, a Port Royal Plantation resident, navigated a narrow section of eroded beach Monday.
The neighborhood saw the most damage from an October storm that washed away about 150,000 cubic yards of sand from Hilton Head Island, said Scott Liggett, the town’s director of public projects and facilities.
The eroded state of Port Royal Plantation’s beaches is a prime example of why the town’s $20.7 million renourishment project is needed, say Hilton Head leaders.
The ongoing project is currently moving across the neighborhood’s beaches, pumping in dredged sand to repair a decade’s worth of erosion. The work is likely to move to the heel of the island before the month is over and stay there until mid-July. It will then move to Sea Pines, Liggett said.
The work has added a detour to Wells’ afternoon walks, forcing her to pick her way around construction equipment each day.
“It doesn’t affect me a lot,” Wells said. “The beach had a lot of erosion and the renourishment … is needed.”
With flip flops in her hands, Wells pointed to where stairs once connected beach-goers to the water. She said the October storms washed away the steps, forcing her to find another entry to the beach.
Nearby, construction vehicles smoothed sand that was being dumped from a pipe. About 1,000 feet of beach is closed as the work moves down the beach.
The renourishment work progresses about 300 feet a day.
“They are moving really fast,” Wells said. “It is amazing.”
Liggett said the pipes were moved from Mitchelville Beach to Port Royal Beach late last week. Mitchelville Beach remains closed as dump trunks continue to spread sand along the shores.
The town also is taking steps to protect sea turtles’ nests, Liggett said.
Amber Kuehn, seat turtle project manager for the Coastal Discovery Museum, said volunteers have been working to move nests to portions of the island not disturbed by the renourishment project.
“We are patrolling all night long every night in the area where the work is at,” Kuehn said.
About 142 nests have already been relocated, Kuehn said. Overall, 254 nests have been discovered on the beach.
About 300 nests are found on Hilton Head Island every year. A record 339 were identified in 2013.
Source: The Island Packet
