Bogue Banks beach nourishment after Hurricane Florence caused massive erosion problems in Emerald Isle, Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, Indian Beach, and Salter Path in Eastern NC.

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January 2020: The Carteret County Shore protection office, engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol, dredge contractor Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, and Bogue Banks town officials are all set for the next rounds of nourishment set to start in February 2020. The $28 million dollar project is set to replace sand and vegetation in western Atlantic Beach, Salter Path, Pine Knoll Shores, and western Emerald Isle. This project will last till the end of April.

September 23, 2019: County officials have announced that Great Lakes Dredge And Dock Co. of Illinois was awarded the contract for the November 2019 project after they submitted the winning lowest bid of $28.2 million. Additionally, in a report to the local beach commission, Nicole VanderBeke of Moffitt & Nichol announced that surveys revealed local beaches continued to lose sand up until the Spring of 2019.

September 14, 2019: FEMA announced $18 million dollar effort to help Emerald Isle, Pine Knoll Shores, and Salter Path / Indian Beach to replace sand and vegetation lost during Florence. Carteret County is expected to start work on a major nourishment program in November 2019 which this $18 million dollars can help fund.

July 2019: Carteret County officials announce two new nourishment efforts by November 2019 for Western Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, parts of Salter Path, and the far Western end of Emerald Isle. These areas were left out of the last round of beach nourishment on Bogue Banks. County officials say they will be accepting bids for this work to be completed soon.

10/23/2018 Update: Greg Rudolph, manager of the County Shore Protection Office announced a bid process for beach nourishment to take place 2 p.m. in the Pine Knoll Shores town hall on October 22, 2018.

Beach Survey By Moffatt & Nichol

Moffatt & Nichol is Carteret County’s beach engineering firm. The figures below represents beach erosion figures found by Moffatt & Nichol after Hurricane Florence for communities along Bogue Banks.

Total: 3.6 million cubic yards of sand was displaced during the 2018 storm.Average shoreline retreat along Bogue Banks: 21 feet.

According to the Moffatt & Nichol survey, Emerald Isle faired the worst losing about 2.2 million cubic yards of sand. Other figures showing shoreline retreat in the survey:

Bogue Inlet: 48 feet toward land.

Western part of the town: 26 feet toward land.

Central part of Emerald Isle: 35 feet towards land.

Eastern part of the town: 28 feet towards land.

Will submit a $40 million dollar FEMA claim to replace sand.

Emerald Isle has plans for a 575,000 cubic yards of sand beach nourishment in the Winter of 2018.

Atlantic Beach NC

Atlantic Beach shoreline retreat is 21 feet.

Fort Macon shoreline retreat is 11 feet.

Lost about 400,000 cubic yards of sand.

Salter Path and Indian Beach NC

Indian Beach and Salter Path shoreline retreat is 25 feet.

Lost about 445,000 cubic yards of sand.

Will submit a $19 million dollar FEMA claim for lost sand.

Pine Knoll Shores NC

Pine Knoll Shores lost about 445,000 cubic yards of sand.

FEMA In The Past Has Reimbursed Bogue Banks Communities For Beach Nourishment

In looking at the Carteret County beach management plan, FEMA has reimbursed the county and local communities (*Absent Atlantic Beach) for beach nourishment after big storms where large amounts of sand was lost and shoreline retreat was significant.

* Atlantic Beach does not pay for sand as they get most of their nourishment sand from dredging near the port.

If FEMA does not reimburse Bogue Banks communities for nourishment after Hurricane Florence, how should the county or local communities from Atlantic Beach to Emerald Isle pay for these costs?

What can residents and businesses do to help these efforts with the understand that tourism turnout is largely dependent on people coming to our beaches because of our non-commercialized, clean, and quaint beaches?

Are you willing to support a greater tax rate in Carteret County to help fight Bogue Banks beach erosion, again with the understand that tourism supports a large part of the local community?

We think this is a pretty big deal for the county to consider and could have impacts in many areas within our community, please use the form below to tell us what you think.

All figures in this article were obtained from the Moffatt & Nichol survey presented to the Emerald Isle commissioners. This engineering firm will present their Hurricane Florence beach erosion numbers to other county leaders this coming week.

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