Posted on February 9, 2026
With a length of roughly 26 miles and a projected price tag of more than $1.3 billion, the proposed Wilmington Harbor deepening project would be a big and expensive undertaking.
It also is proving to be a controversial one, based upon the pushback from several towns and environmental groups.
In January, the Army Corps of Engineers asked the N.C. Division of Coastal Management to pause its review of the corps’ preliminary approval of the proposed channel deepening.
While the corps had found the proposed project to be consistent with North Carolina’s environmental and other rules and regulations, the state also has to sign off on that conclusion.
“The decision to pause allows time for the corps to review and consider issues raised by (Division of Coastal Management) and the public before (Coastal Management) completes its review,” stated Coastal Management in a release announcing the review pause. “A timeline has not been established for when the pause may be lifted.”
What would the proposed deepening involve?
The project calls for deepening the Cape Fear River shipping channel from its current 42 feet to 47 feet. Other actions involved in the six-year, estimated $1.35 billion project would see the shipping entrance channel at the mouth of the Cape Fear widened and deepened, along with other parts of the channel also widened approaching Wilmington.
Work to deepen the channel would include substantial amounts of dredging and, where required, blasting. Compatible dredged sand would be placed on nearby beaches, particularly Bald Head Island, Caswell Beach and Oak Island. Those Brunswick County beach towns have complained for years that the Cape Fear shipping channel, particularly when it was deepened from 38 feet to 42 feet more than two decades ago, has robbed their beaches of sand.
Dredged material also could be placed on Carolina Beach and Masonboro Island if it’s economically feasible, according to the draft study.
The draft planning document also calls for dredged sediment to help build and restore mudflats near wetlands along the Cape Fear. Areas that could see fresh material include the shoreline of Brunswick Town / Fort Anderson, Southport Island, and several spoil islands managed as bird sanctuaries by Audubon N.C.
The corps’ draft report, officially called the Wilmington Harbor 403 Letter Report and Environmental Impact Statement, was released in mid-September.
