DARE COUNTY, N.C. - A planned beach nourishment project in Buxton has become the latest project on the Outer Banks to be pushed to 2017.
Dare County received four bids from contractors for the Buxton Beach Nourishment Project. According to the county, it was the result of an intense effort by the Board of Commissioners over the past two years for the necessary permits and funding to "safeguard access to Hatteras Island."
Weeks Construction of Covington, Louisiana had the lowest responsible bid for 2017 at $22.15 million, compared to the construction budget of $22.96 million.
Dare County requested contractors submit two bids for the project, one for work to be completed in December 2016 and the other for December 2017. This was done after the county received much higher than expected bids for a 2016 beach nourishment project in Duck, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills.
Of the four companies that bid on the project for Buxton, only two provided bids for 2016 and both of those came in at more than 50 percent above the project budget.
A recommendation to approve the 2017 bid from Weeks Marine is expected to be presented to the Board of Commissioners for approval at an upcoming meeting.
The board at a special meeting on March 17, 2016 accepted a bid from Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company for the 2017 beach nourishment project in Duck, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills.
That bid totaled $38,596,850, which is about $4.9 million under budget.
Work is expected to start on April 1, 2017 in Duck, on June 1, 2017 in Kitty Hawk and on August 20, 2017 in Kill Devil Hills.
