03-20-08: Emerald Isle beats the clock on sand bulldozing

(C) Jacksonville Daily News

By Jannette Pippin, Staff Writer

EMERALD ISLE - Bulldozers cleared the beach Tuesday in Emerald Isle after spending several days shoring up dunes along a stretch of shoreline near the Point.

It provides beachfront homes with some additional protection against oceanfront erosion just as a deadline for completing the work nears.

Town Manager Frank Rush said the town's permit indicates that work had to be done by March 31. The sea turtle nesting season begins April 1, and beach work is restricted to protect the nests.

While the town got the permit last fall, it waited until spring to bring in grading contractor LB Page so the new dune line would be in place as the summer season approached.

"We wanted to do it as close to this year's summer season as possible," Rush said.

Summer brings in beach visitors, but June 1 also marks the start of the hurricane season, which can bring storms capable of causing severe erosion.

Oceanfront erosion near the Point has been monitored by the town over the past year and has been the one downside in an otherwise successful channel relocation project completed at Bogue Inlet in 2005.

The project moved the channel farther from The Point, relieving pressure on the shoreline, and also resulted in the renourishment of 4.5 miles of each between Pinta Drive and Lands End.

Between April 2005 and June 2007, the spit at the end of the Point accreted naturally by more than 1,000 feet, and the pedestrian access was fully restored.

But since that time, there has been erosion in the oceanfront area between Channel Drive and the Point and the public access was closed again in October 2007.

The town continues to believe the problem will correct itself naturally and improvement has already appeared in the area that was first impacted by the erosion.

Recent underwater surveys show the migration of a large lobe of sand from the east and the accretion of sand from offshore shoals.

The accretion has helped improve the situation in front of homes closest to Channel Drive, but erosion continues to be a problem near the town access and just to the east of the Point.

A March 7 storm didn't help the situation.

The storm caused additional erosion at the Point and cut a path through the spit at the Point, leaving it an island.

"It's definitely not good, but it's not anything causing any immediate problem. I don't think in the long run it is going to be a problem," Rush said.

Project engineers have said it will take four to six years for the channel relocation project to completely stabilize.

Until that process is complete, the town continues to look at ways to provide protection against erosion.

The new dune line constructed this week stretches across an area that is seeing accretion, and the work was done to provide additional protection in areas that may remain vulnerable.

Closer to the Point, the town is seeking permission from the N.C. Division of Coastal Management to keep the sandbags protecting the town access and four adjacent homes in place for another two years.

That request is scheduled to be heard by the Coastal Resources Commission at its March 27-28 meeting in Kill Devil Hills.

The sandbags were scheduled for removal in 2007 but were completely covered by sand after the channel relocation and able to remain. Now that they have been exposed again, they will have to be removed if an extension is not granted.

Another option being pursued is the dredging of the same area as in 2005 and putting additional sand at the Point. The town is also looking at working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to get sand from dredging it is scheduled to do on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway near the area.