Posted on August 1, 2024
CAPE LOOKOUT, N.C. (WITN) – Lighthouses are a big part of our state’s history. People visit them year-round, which means lots of tourism dollars that stay here in the east. But just like many coastlines, it deals with erosion and changes in the currents.
We’re taking you to Cape Lookout National Seashore on the southern Outer Banks. A dredging project this spring there helped preserve the landmark, by taking sand from where it wasn’t needed to where it desperately was.
It’s a popular destination in Eastern Carolina.
“I just feel really relaxed when I’m out here,” said visitor Alyssa Garner.
It’s also a landmark with a fascinating history.
“It still is a working navigational aid,” said Save Cape Lookout President Joni Dennis.
You may find it hard to avoid falling in love with Cape Lookout National Seashore. Whether you’re there to check out the lighthouse, take a swim or lay on the beach – you’re sure to find a nice escape.
Dennis says both the shoreline and the route to get there have changed over time.
“When Barden’s Inlet, the hurricane blew through Barden’s Inlet, it opened up a different way for the water to move,” Dennis explained. “It’s just the natural progression of all the storms that made this happen.”
You need to take a boat or a take a ferry to get to Cape Lookout. It’s a simple trip, but a buildup of shoals over the years started to damage the ferries.
“We’d nudge bottom as we’d go through on our lower units,” said Island Express Ferry Service owner Captain George Aswad. “We used to go through quite a few lower units every season, and that was a very costly expense.”
While too much sand was building up along the ferry route – too little was protecting the lighthouse. Just last year, attenuators were added to protect what was left of the beach, but it was only a temporary solution.
“The water came 20 yards in front of the lighthouse,” said Dennis. But welcome news came in the form of a $6.9 million National Park Service dredging project. Dennis’ nonprofit helped advocate for the work to begin.
The goal was to take the excess sand from the channels that ferries and other boats take and use it to add to the beach in front of the lighthouse. The project added 100 yards of beach to the Cape Lookout shore. Below you can see a comparison from how it started to the results of the project.
