Posted on August 13, 2025
The Bogue Sound is over 23 miles of beach, stretching from Emerald Isle all the way to Fort Macon, and officials say they are caught in a never-ending battle of beach restoration.
Ryan Davenport is the shore protection manager for Carteret County, he walked News 12 through the constant battle they face with the stretches of beach here in ENC, and how hurricanes like potential Hurricane Erin impact their work.
Whether it is severe weather or heavy waves, there are many causes to beach erosion.
Ryan Davenport works as the shore protection manager for Carteret County, and says these large scale nourishment projects are needed every 5–7 years.
These are very expensive projects, and they take about two years to implement from the point we decide to engage in the project to actual completion.
The sand is always moving, so you may be wondering where this new sand is coming from.
The answer, right from where the sand went.
These are the sights that are pre-determined to um—where we’ll dredge up our material from.
The cost, upwards of 18 million dollars, which was the amount spent on the project in 2021.
The first round of money will pay just for the design of the project.
That cost being over 600,000 dollars from the NCDEQ.
But that plan is dependent on a few factors.
So after a storm, we do a post storm survey and we figure the difference between what was there before the storm, and what was there after the storm.
This project will get started in November 2026 if everything goes according to plan but there is always the element of hurricanes, like Tropical Storm Erin forming off the coast right now.
