PLEASURE ISLAND — Hurricane Florence brought destruction to much of the Coastal Carolinas and while homes and infrastructure took a serious hit, local beaches also suffered thanks to beach erosion. Luckily for the Towns of Kure Beach and Carolina Beach, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has plans to renourish the Pleasure Island beaches before summer.
In fact, beach nourishment equipment has arrived in Carolina Beach and it appears that a start date is imminent.
According to Interim Town Manager Ed Parvin, “Our construction office representatives report that Weeks [the company contracted to complete the project], began bringing beach equipment to the site on Sunday, are still working on the preconstruction surveys of the shoreline, and we have not received an updated completion schedule for Carolina Beach.”
Both towns are part of a federal program known as Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) and have been for more than 50 years.
“The CSRM project covers a 2.7-mile area of shoreline in Carolina Beach and 3.4-miles in Kure Beach. The nourishment occurs every three years the next project is scheduled to occur in early Spring 2019,” according to the Town of Carolina Beach’s website.
Beach nourishment through the CSRM takes place every three years and was last completed on Pleasure Island in 2016, in November of 2018, the USACE announced the approximate cost for the project to be $17.4 million.
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Wilmington District is pleased to announce that a periodic nourishment contract was awarded on Nov. 30, 2018, at a cost of approximately $17.4 million to Weeks Marine, Incorporated. This contract for this coastal storm risk management project includes funding from multiple sources including federal, New Hanover County and the state of North Carolina. The non-federal sponsors for this project are the towns of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach,” according to a USACE press release.
A complete timeline for the nourishment project is not yet known, but it has to be complete before April 30 due to sea turtle nesting season, according to the USACE.
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