Posted on March 25, 2026
By Sabrina Lee
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — After months of work, Hilton Head Island’s beach renourishment project is moving into its final phase as crews prepare to shift operations to South Beach — the island’s southern “toe” — next week.
The $47.5 million effort, the fifth restoration of its kind and last performed in 2016, is replacing hundreds of feet of shoreline lost to erosion.
Contractors have completed work at Fish Haul Beach and Pine Island and are wrapping up along the central Atlantic section; officials say more than two-thirds of the project is finished and they expect overall completion by May.
In the next phase crews will install more than 11,000 feet of offshore pipeline to Barrett Shoals, where roughly 750,000 cubic yards of sand will be dredged and pumped onto the beach.
“There’s a dramatic difference. I mean some places we’re putting back 100 feet of beach that was lost,” said Town Engineer Jeff Netzinger.
He noted the sand is brought in by dredge and delivered to shore through seabed-laid pipe as a slurry.
Netzinger emphasized the project’s broader value: “It’s a huge economic boon for the island. I mean, it’s the lifeblood for the island’s economy.”
Some areas remain under construction: Pine Island Beach is closed while crews install rock breakwaters intended to provide long-term shoreline protection; that work is expected to finish in early April.
The town is already preparing budget plans for a 2036 renourishment, roughly 10 years away.
The full project is slated to be complete in time for the busy season. Residents and visitors can track active work zones and beach access through the Town’s online renourishment map.
