Posted on June 13, 2017
By Jeff Hampton, The Virginian-Pilot
Beachgoers rejoice! The largest beach-widening project ever undertaken on the Outer Banks is two weeks ahead of schedule two weeks after it began.
Operations began May 23 on the 1.7 miles due for widening in Duck. Three dredges pumping up to 5,000 cubic yards of sand an hour have completed two sections totaling about 3,100 feet, Duck Town Manager Chris Layton said.
Duck’s part of the project could be finished by early July, two weeks earlier than expected.
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Layton said.
Bad weather caused a delay Wednesday and Thursday.
Near Carroll Drive, bulldozers pushed sand shoreward Tuesday as a saltwater and sand slurry gushed from the end of a 30-inch-diameter pipe. Beach visitors set up umbrellas and played in the surf just outside the work zone despite the roar of equipment.
The new beach is roughly 300 feet wide, but will narrow when the ocean reclaims sand and forms bars just outside the breakers as part of a natural process.
The sandbars help break destructive wave action during storms. The finished beach will end up about 100 feet wide, Layton said.
“That is part of the design,” he said.
The wider beaches are projected to last five years before needing maintenance.
“If there’s no major storm, it might last seven or eight years,” he said. “It’s going to be storm-driven to certain degree.”
Once finished in Duck, the process moves to Southern Shore to widen 2,500 feet of shoreline. Later in the summer, the crews will enlarge 3.6 miles in Kitty Hawk and 2.6 miles in Kill Devil Hills.
The towns are using the same contractor, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. of Oak Brook, Ill., to consolidate work. The total cost is about $40 million.
Meanwhile, on Hatteras Island to the south, a beach-nourishment project in Buxton will cover 2.9 miles and cost $25 million. Work is expected to begin next week and end 90 days later if conditions are right. The contractor, Weeks Marine Inc. of Cranford, N.J., could also work night and day to finish on time.
Tourists and property owners can find out when work will be going on in front of their rental houses through an interactive map and fact sheet the county provides at www.morebeachtolove.com.
Source: The Virginian-Pilot
