OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. — Ocean Isle Beach will be getting a facelift this winter with two projects designed to stop the current erosion problems facing the east end of the island.
What You Need to Know
- A hard structure called a terminal groin will be built starting in November
- A coastal storm risk management project will create a beach behind the terminal groin by spring
- The expected cost for the structure and beach fill is over $11 million
Construction will soon begin on one of the only hardened structures to be approved along the coast of North Carolina. The terminal groin will function as a sand trap to slow the erosion threatening the east end of Ocean Isle.
Debbie Smith, the mayor of Ocean Isle, says the groin will allow sand to move freely over it but will keep it on the side closest to the island.
“It's not a jetty, it's not large, it's leaky,” Smith said. “The sand will go over it, through it, around it, so it's not going to starve the furtherest end of the island from any sand down drift flow.”
At the same time the Army Corps of Engineers will be creating a beach behind the new structure by dredging in the inlet as part of a coastal storm risk management project. The corps expects the project to provide protection against erosion, better recreation and more habitat for sea turtles and nesting shorebirds.
“Because we're so close to the inlet, there's always been erosion problems here,” Smith said. “The street in front of the house we're standing on, is Third Street. There used to be a First and Second in front of it.”
The houses at the east end of the island are currently protected only by sandbags, and the mayor says she's watched the beach shift constantly over the years. Smith hopes the construction will be complete by spring of 2022, leaving vacationers and island residents with a beautiful beach to enjoy.
“This really affects more than just these last 2,000 feet of beach,” Smith said. “It will hold this coastal storm damage reduction project further up the island too, so it will make a big difference in the last mile or better of our island.”
There is no state or federal funding available for this, so the town will be absorbing the entire $11 million combined cost of both projects.