Snow’s Cut set for major repairs amid erosion risks

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Escarpments, or sea cliffs, scar the sides of the Snow’s Cut inlet.   

Pieces of rock and dirt dot the beaches. It’s not only unsightly, it’s dangerous. 

Wakes from heavy boat traffic and tidal surges have erased part of the shoreline, exposing trees and rocks. 

The waterway, that connects the Cape Fear River with the Intracoastal Waterway, was built in the late 1920’s and is showing its age.  

Dave Connolly is the Chief of Public Affairs at the US Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District. 

He said Snow’s Cut will be getting an extreme makeover. 

“There’s basically four reaches that we’re looking at on Snow’s Cut which are all west of 421. We’re looking at the areas that have kind of the highest risk of erosion,” said Connolly. 

The work will include a combination of dredging and replacing parts of the eroded shoreline with rocks. 

“The mitigation strategies that we’re looking at for those mostly involve…one three of those reaches is for tow revetment, which is commonly people know it as rip rap, and one of the areas could possibly use an artificial reef,” said Connolly. 

Money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help fund the $15 million project.

“Designed plans in order to mitigate that risk. Now, all of this work is subject to the availability of funds, so if we don’t have the funding available for all four of those reaches, we’ll prioritize with the highest risk areas and work those first,” said Connolly.