Underwater power lines crossing Hatteras Inlet’s Connector Channel have created another delay in finalizing the realignment of the Hatteras ferry channel.
Beach & Inlet Management
Corps policy has caused nonfederal dredging costs to soar
The Army Corps of Engineers says its five-year-old rule blocking local governments, marinas and private entities from using its dredged material disposal sites will remain.
Division pulls new inlet hazard area development rules
Changes to other coastal management rules had removed a key provision while the recently approved shoreline development rules were still being considered.
Coastal management staff to draft revised septic setbacks
The Coastal Resources Commission Thursday directed Division of Coastal Management staff to craft proposed amendments to address issues associated with houses on the public beach as a result of erosion.
Imperiled beach houses a problem fraught with legal perils
Lawsuits over property rights, buyer’s responsibility and risk, public trust and public health issues — frustrations mount over how to address the problem of houses teetering at the ocean’s edge.
Murphy introduces bill to study plan for Oregon Inlet jetties
Rep. Greg Murphy’s measure calls on the Corps to take another look at the feasibility of building two jetties to keep Oregon Inlet free from shoaling, an idea dismissed two decades ago as environmentally risky with dubious benefit.
Tiresome issue won’t stop Wrightsville Beach sand project
Other New Hanover County towns’ beach nourishment work was slowed when the dredge encountered tires from old artificial reefs but the known offshore debris field isn’t halting Wrightsville Beach’s plans to pump sand from its new borrow site.
Officials unsurprised as 2 more Rodanthe homes collapse
After a nearby house fell earlier this year, Cape Hatteras National Seashore superintendent had advised owners of the two beach houses that were destroyed by a coastal storm Tuesday to remove the homes or take other proactive measures.
Some N. Topsail Beach owners want Surf City annexation
A group of property owners in the Phase 5 area of North Topsail Beach’s beach nourishment plan says it wants out and to be annexed by neighboring Surf City.
Frustrations mount over imperiled Outer Banks houses
Few options are available to deal with the problem of oceanfront houses at risk of collapse on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, except to try and clean up the debris once they fall.
Nourishment funds now secured for 2 New Hanover towns
Earlier this year three New Hanover beach towns learned there was no appropriation for longstanding shoreline nourishment projects, since then Army Corps of Engineers has shifted funds for Kure and Carolina beaches, but not Wrightsville Beach, for now.
Ocean Isle Beach terminal groin, sand projects set to begin
Contractors expect to get underway in mid-November on the Brunswick County town’s long-planned $11.4 million, 1,050-foot terminal groin as well as a beach nourishment project with sand from Shallotte Inlet.
Holden Beach, Corps begin $3M storm risk planning study
The Holden Beach Coastal Storm Risk Management Project General Reevaluation Study is to consider feasibility and alternatives for federal participation in cost-shared management measures including beach nourishment for up to 50 years.
NTB won’t join beach nourishment project partnership
North Topsail Beach will not be committing to a joint multi-million-dollar beach nourishment project with Surf City and the Army Corps of Engineers.
‘Ditch of Death’: Navigation in Hatteras Inlet dicey … again
Shoaling threatens navigation in economically vital Hatteras Inlet, prompting frustrated fishers to dub the South Ferry Channel the “Ditch of Death.” A consultant, responding to conditions, told the Dare County Waterways Commission Monday that continuing to dredge the passage appears “futile.”
North Topsail Beach service districts plan draws ire
Those who spoke during a public hearing Saturday largely opposed a plan to assess property owners according to district to pay for a proposed $672 million beach project.