WILMINGTON — It might be only February but warmer weather is slowly making its way back to Southeastern N.C. For those who have been enjoying the somewhat warmer weather and decided to take in some sand and surf at Wrightsville Beach it would be hard to miss the large metal pipe running along the length of the shoreline – but what is it?
Don’t worry, it’s not the newest oil pipeline taking over the white sand, it’s actually part of the 2018 Shoreline Sand Placement Project from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
The project began this past weekend according to Town Manager of Wrightsville Beach Tim Owens, and is scheduled to be complete by the end of March.
“The project begins just north of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort and terminates just north of Holiday Inn Resort. The project will address most of the major areas that have experienced erosion which is generally from Stone Street to the Holiday Inn,” Owens said.
The contract to preform the shoreline placement was awarded to Weeks Marine and is estimated to cost $9.4 million. The Town of Wrightsville Beach, New Hanover County, and the State of N.C. are all sponsors in cost sharing.
This is just one of two projects currently taking place in Southeastern N.C., the second taking place in Ocean Isle Beach in Brunswick County, Project Manager Jim Medlock said during a presentation to Wrightsville Beach Board of Alderman. The total cost of both projects is more than $13 million, he said.
The project area starts at the south end of the island near the Masonboro Inlet and the pipeline then makes its way north up the beach.
The project will take sand from dredging both Banks Channel as well as Masonboro Inlet and move it north by about 9,000-feet to the renourishment area; the total renourishment area is about 8,000 feet, Medlock said.
Visitors to Wrightsville Beach are asked to stay off of the pipes and the renourishment areas, and the contractor will be blocking off areas of the beach as the project is underway.
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