A roughly $23.5 million contract awarded to Norfolk Dredging Company will help mitigate coastal erosion and safeguard property against hurricane and storm damage, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District said in a release.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District has awarded a $23.5 million contract to Norfolk Dredging for the “Carolina Beach and Vicinity” Coastal Storm Risk Management project

  • The project is designed to significantly reduce the risk to infrastructure along the coast of "Carolina Beach and Vicinity" from the impacts of hurricanes and coastal storms

  • It also includes beach renourishment projects that will offer numerous benefits to local ecosystems along the area's coast

The money is part of a contract to support the “Carolina Beach and Vicinity” Coastal Storm Risk Management project.

The project is cost shared between the towns of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach, the release said, and “is designed to significantly reduce the risk to infrastructure along the coast of ‘Carolina Beach and Vicinity’ from the impacts of hurricanes and coastal storms.”

The USACE Wilmington said the project also offers additional benefits through the renourishment and widening of eroding beach areas that include:

  • Protect threatened or endangered plant species within the dune ecosystem
  • Safeguard crucial habitat located behind dunes or adjacent to beaches
  • Generate or restore habitat lost due to erosion, benefiting sea turtles, shorebirds and other beach-dwelling organisms
  • Establish new nesting sites for endangered sea turtles and spawning grounds for various marine species

Officials said the beach nourishment projects will take place between Nov. 16, 2025 and April 30, 2026. Work will include dredging and strategically placing beach-quality sand along the shoreline of the CSRM project.