NAGS HEAD, N.C. — Two bulldozers that will assist in Nags Head's beach nourishment project are already sitting in the parking lot of Ramp 1 on Friday, with the expectation that the massive project will begin in mid-May.
"We've been waiting for it, I feel like for a couple years now, especially after the last fall that we had, we've lost a lot of the beach," said Rachel Oliver, a manager at Fish Heads Bar and Grill on the Outer Banks Fishing Pier.
In mid-May, 2.4 million cubic yards of sand will begin to be pumped onto the beach in Nags Head from the Bonnett Street Beach Access south to the town line — about a 10.5-mile stretch of beach.
"We're placing 2.4 million cubic yards of sand on the beach from the north end of our Bonnett Street beach access all the way to the south to the town line, with Cape Hatteras National Seashore and even a little taper into the seashore. It's critically important to our town, and it's important to the entire county that we keep our beaches healthy," said Roberta Thuman, public information officer for the Town of Nags Head.
As the work progresses, beachgoers can expect it to potentially impact their visit here, but that's only during the active construction in each location.
"When visitors come down here, if they happen to find beach nourishment near where they're staying, the active construction taking place, there will be about 1,500 to 2,000 feet of beach closed, and that's just during active construction. This construction, the sand pumping, we call it, will move north or south, whichever way it's supposed to be moving pretty quickly, except in parts of south Nags head, where they're getting more sand, because the erosion rate's higher down there," said Thuman.
Local businesses know that they might be impacted when the work is happening in their locations, but are understanding of what this work does for the future of our beaches.
"I feel like for our customers and our locals, our tourists, everybody will be able to enjoy the Outer Banks much longer with the beach nourishment, and we're very thankful for that, keeping our restaurant that's literally on the ocean safe," said Oliver.
You might be wondering why this work happens now, instead of in the off-season. Thuman explains:
"Most beach nourishment projects on the East Coast are conducted in the off season. Unfortunately, that's not available to us here. The safest time to conduct these nourishment projects is in the middle of the summer, it's the calmest time of year for the dredges and the and the shore personnel to conduct the work," said Thuman.
The expectation right now is for the $36.8 million project to begin in mid-May and last until mid-July, which is an accelerated process for this type of project.
"Two months is an accelerated schedule for the dredging company they're using. They'll be using two different dredges, and so that they can get out of here when the waves start to pick up, which typically happens sometimes in our low pressure systems in mid to late July," said Thuman.
The town does understand that there might be frustration about this project impacting tourist visits this year, but feels it's for the greater good of our beaches.
"We see this as as a minor inconvenience for the future of our town and our county visitors," said Thuman.
The Town of Nags Head has created a page to provide information about the project that you can find here.
