Weeks Marine, the Town’s contractor for its beach nourishment project, has finished the first segment of replenishment from 60 Ocean Blvd. to the Kitty Hawk town line and is now working in two construction zones, one from 60 to 70 Ocean Blvd. and the other in the vicinity of 172 Ocean Blvd. to the oceanfront at Yellowfin Lane, according to an update yesterday by Town Manager Cliff Ogburn and observations by The Beacon today.
The first crew is pumping sand north of 60 Ocean Blvd., according to the Town Manager, while the second crew is working south from the Dolphin Run subline. This morning we observed that the Dolphin Run crew had progressed in its sand pumping—and beach widening—to 172 Ocean Blvd. If you access the beach at Dolphin Run or Trout Run, you will see a vastly expanded oceanfront.
Weeks Marine’s construction areas, which are cordoned off, move daily as crews, working 24/7, progress. We can attest that they move quickly so that a construction area is only in front of an oceanfront property for 24 to 48 hours—unless inclement weather stops work. You may access the beach around the zone by simply walking north or south of the designated area. We found the walk-around only slightly inconvenient.
Both dredgers (the ships, also called dredges) that are located offshore are scheduled for refueling in Norfolk tomorrow, the Town Manager reported. They are expected to work today until at least 6 p.m. After refueling, the dredgers are expected to be back on the Southern Shores jobsite by 6 p.m. Monday.
The dredger Magdalen will begin working on the beach nourishment project in Duck at “some point soon,” Mr. Ogburn said in his update. The other dredger, B.E. Lindholm, will continue working in Southern Shores.
“Barring any weather or mechanical delays,” Mr. Ogburn said, “the project should finish in Southern Shores around mid-December.”
There is no more detailed word yet on when the sand pumping will start north of Dolphin Run.
THE NEXT BIWEEKLY PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING about the beach nourishment project will be held Wed., Oct. 26, at 1:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center. The Zoom link and the call-in number for this meeting will be available on the Town website under the Beach Nourishment tab on the home page. For all project updates, click on the BN tab.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 10/22/22
The Southern Shores Beacon 