BRUNSWICK COUNTY — The United States Army Corps of Engineers has presented a plan to dredge the navigation channel at the Lockwoods Folly Inlet in Brunswick County.
The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners yesterday approved a motion to transfer $168,000 to the North Carolina Division of Water resources as part of the required local match to fund the project.
The Commissioners also agree to allow the chairman to write a letter to the Town of Holden Beach requesting $84,000, or 50 percent of the project’s local share.
According to the Board of Commissioners, other towns will not be asked for financial assistance; they will also not receive any of the dredged sand for beach re-nourishment projects.
“The (United States Army Corps of Engineers) USACE has presented a plan to dredge the navigation channel 10-feet deep and 100-feet wide in a project proposed to begin in late January of 2018. The project will be performed by a ‘hopper’ dredge, the Currituck, so there will be nearshore placement of beneficial beach quality sand. However, the USACE has advised staff that it is not feasible to share the sand from this project between Holden Beach and Oak Island because of the travel distances involved and the limited time availability of the Currituck, nor is it feasible for all of the sand to be placed nearshore solely on Oak Island because of the same reasons,” according to the Board of Commissioners agenda.
The total project cost is expected to be $504,000 and two-thirds of the project will be funded through the state’s Shallow Draft Navigation Fund.
In April the United States Coast Guard announced its intentions to remove ten of the navigational buoys from the channel. (Coast Guard pulls Lockwoods Folly buoys, tells mariners to sail ‘at their own risk’)
The channel separates Oak Island and Holden Beach and is location where the Lockwoods Folly River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The buoys were removed due to, “extensive shoaling, or deposits of sand that reduce the water depth,” according to a previous Port City Daily article.
According to the USACE plans, the dredging will take about two weeks to complete and the material will be placed in the near shore at Holden Beach. The estimated amount of material removed from the inlet is 45,000 cubic yards.
Lockwoods Folly Inlet – Updated Dredging Estimate (UNCLASSIFIED) by Michael James on Scribd
Michael Praats can be reached at Michael.p@localvoicemedia.com
