Posted on February 8, 2024
EMERALD ISLE — The project to dredge Bogue Inlet and deposit sand on Emerald Isle beaches got underway Jan. 1 and is proceeding as planned, with completion possible by the middle of this month.
“We’re pleased with the project’s progress and excited to see the positive impact on our beaches,” Carteret County Shore Protection Office Manager Ryan Davenport said Monday. “This collaboration ensures the safe navigation of the Intracoastal Waterway while simultaneously replenishing our vital shorelines.”
The inlet is the main passageway from interior waters to the ocean for commercial and recreational boaters in western Carteret County and eastern Onslow County.
In the project, a joint effort between Carteret County, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractor is dredging approximately 200,000 cubic yards of material from the Bogue Inlet Crossing on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICWW).
This material is being strategically placed to nourish the beach at The Point in Emerald Isle, starting 1,500 feet from the inlet and continuing east until project completion. The project is anticipated to conclude near Doe Drive.
Davenport added that while the project is on track for completion within the designated time frame, “potential delays due to weather or equipment malfunction are always a possibility. We will continue to provide updates on any unforeseen circumstances.”
Carteret County, the town and the North Carolina Shallow Draft Navigation Fund are using a MOA with the Army Corps to collectively fund the project. It’s the seventh time since 2006 that this type of project has been done.
Emerald Isle Town Manager Matt Zapp is also pleased with the progress.
“They’re doing a great job,” he said of the Army Corps and its contractor. “And we’re very pleased that it’s costing the town only 12 cents on the dollar.”
Shallow-draft navigation channels are defined as inlets no deeper than 16 feet, a river entrance to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway or other interior coastal waterways. There are more than 10 shallow-draft inlet navigation channels along the state’s coast.
The fund, created by the state in 2013, gets its money from portions of boater registration fees and the marine fuel excise tax.
It’s a $2.66 million project, with the state contributing $1.998 million, or 75 percent of the cost. Emerald Isle and the county each put up $333,125, or 12.5 percent. Together, the county money and the town’s money make up the required 25 percent local match for the state grant.
Emerald Isle banned beach driving, for safety reasons, from west of Doe Drive access ramp to The Point between Jan. 1 and February 15.
Zapp said beach drivers have cooperated with the temporary closure and noted that drivers still have about 10 miles open for their use on the town’s strand.
