New sand renourishes my soul

It's hard to have fun at the beach if there is no beach. And you can't really have a beach without sand. (Heck, you couldn't even call it "the beach" if there's nowhere to put your feet, your cooler or your umbrella. It would just be "the ocean!") 

We knew when we first bought Our Beach Place that the closest section of beach was, eh, sparse at high tide. But we didn't care so much to not get it. Well, within the past year, a beach renourishment project took place, and the difference is night and day. Whereas before the ocean water came up to the rocks that line the dunes at high tide, now I don't think I've ever seen more beach on the North Carolina coast. It's remarkable. 

Well, more good news (and sand) is on the way as Congress announced it will continue to fund federal renourishment aid to Carolina Beach, according to WWAY. This is GREAT news.

Carolina Beach's 50-year renourishment project was set to expire this year. That left the possibility of finding a way to use state and local funds only to pay for the multi-million-dollar sand replenishment projects. Instead, the WRRDA authorizes a three-year extension of coastal storm damage projects scheduled to expire in the next five years, including Carolina Beach. It also creates a process by which successful projects can be extended by up to 15 years with the help of federal funds.

CB getting renourished -- in a jiffy!

The beach renourishment project in Carolina Beach is finally underway. The bad news is there may be some ugly, broken-up beaches with pipes and equipment all over for a bit. The good news is it is scheduled to all be over by May 31, according to WECT, so it won't be THAT long.

The even BETTER news is when it's completed, there should be wider beaches for all to enjoy. (And there was much rejoicing.)

Let's go to the TV station's report:

Contractors will add 900,000 cubic yards of sand to the stretch of beach from the pier to the boardwalk area. They're moving at an estimated pace of 1,000 feet down the sand, according to Project Manager Bob Keistler.
He said the 24/7 work schedule should keep beachgoers from being discouraged, because crews won't be in one area too long.
"Once they finish placing the beach in one area, folks are able to swim, surf, and do whatever but they're will be a big pipe there," said Keistler.
The project needed special permits because of its late start, as it is currently turtle season.
Regulating agencies approved the Pleasure Island Sea Turtle Project to be the designated group to monitor the work's effect on turtles.
Doug Piatkowski, a biologist with the Corps, said crews have several options if they ever encounter a turtle -- they can relocate the turtle, work around it or completely stop the process until it is safe to begin again.

Whoo-hoo! There's now more beach to enjoy!

Just in time for the busy beach time of the year, comes these photos courtesy of the missus, showing the beach renourishment process as it is underway. We are particularly excited because while we've enjoyed being able to see the OCEAN from the porch of Our Beach Place, we can now see the BEACH as well. Yippee!

Here is the before photo (from a year or so ago) ...

... and here is a photo as of May 1.

Note the pipeline on the beach in the second photo. The wife says the beach goes well even beyond it. Nice.

In other words, now is a good time to get down there and enjoy the sand and surf. (Hint, hint.)

Meeting held to clear up re-nourishment confusion

From the Star-News:

Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers, a private engineering firm and New Hanover County met with Carolina Beach and Kure Beach officials Tuesday to discuss the details of beach nourishment in the island towns.

The meeting was intended to clear up confusion about the current Carolina Beach project, including the re-nourishment scheduled for 2010, as well as options available to the town after the federal project expires in 2014, said Town Manager Tim Owens.

Concerns had been raised about the scope of the re-nourishment planned for 2010; though mobilization costs will be combined where possible, the scope has been scaled back and will likely not include parts of the beach originally planned to receive nourishment, town officials had previously said, as a variety of factors have combined to raise cost estimates above those previously expected. ...

Beach nourishment plans slashed

Carolina Beach will be receiving approximately half the sand it had expected next spring, Town Manager Tim Owens announced at the town’s special meeting Tuesday, according to the Star-News.

The project had been intended to nourish the beach from the north end of the town to near Atlanta Avenue, but now the project will stop at Sailfish Lane.

“We’ve lost over a mile of beach nourishment that was going to happen,” Owens said, adding that the depth of sand placed on the beach in the nourished part has been reduced as well. Between those two factors, the beach will get half the amount of sand originally expected.

The southern part of the town, which was to originally get sand as part of the Kure Beach project, will still receive its planned amount of sand.

I'm a bit confused here. So will the northern beaches be renourished? The second graf makes it sound like that. However the fourth graf makes it sound like it will be the southern part that gets the work. Hmm.