WB sand dredging project finished a week ahead of schedule

FROM AN ARTICLE AT DredgingToday.com

Dredging projects help protect the beaches existing sand dunes, houses and roads.

“We all know the weather has been rough the last week in cold conditions. They worked 24 hours a day, they had a safe project and a quality project,” said project manager Bob Keistler, with the Army Corps.

Keistler said recent rough water due to weather is a big part of why dredging is so important. It serves as a barrier that keeps the ocean from swallowing infrastructure.

“Any types of currents or storms or hurricanes that can bring erosion to the beaches, and that is what we are trying to avoid,” said Keistler.

Sand is being pumped from Masonboro Inlet through 20,000 feet of pipe onto Wrightsville Beach, where bulldozers push the sand around to form a new beach profile.

Workers dredged one million yards from the Masonboro Inlet to the beach; Keistler said that is a huge amount of sand.

“If you think about a dump truck load that you would see going down the road that holds 10 cubic yards, we put 450,000 cubic yards in less than two weeks,” said Keistler.

As Town Manager Bob Simpson pointed out, the island could have big problems, especially in the middle, without the extra sand.

“It is very essential that we preserve the dune structure and maintain the beach area there. It has a natural tendency to get thinner. The beach distance there gets much much thinner,” said Simpson.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Great Lakes Dredge and Lock Company will move to Kure Beach this weekend for their next dredging project.

Carolina Beach and Ocean Isle Beach are also on the contract.

The beaches will get renourished in another four years.