SECTION 933 PHASE I UPDATES (2004)

Fact Sheet: Phase I

View Graphic: Progress Map – 3/29/04

Notes:

3/29/04 - Weeks Marine completed the Outer Harbor Section 933 Project early Tuesday morning and subsequently mobilized to the Emerald Isle FEMA Project that should be completed by Thursday, April 1st. Approximately 700,000 cubic yards of sand (surveyed) was placed along the shorelines of Indian Beach, Salter Path, and Pine Knoll Shores as part of the Section 933 effort from the period of February 8th - March 23rd. That’s a volume equivalent to a block of sand the size of a regulation 120 yard x 60 yard football field almost 300 foot high! The communities of Indian Beach and Pine Knoll Shores have also retained Carolina Seacoast to plant sea oats and bitter panicum at the intersection of the dune/berm to help promote new dune growth. The actual planting episode will occur sometime in mid May.

Construction of the three new access/parking areas planned in association with the Section 933 Project should be begin within the next couple of weeks. From east to west these areas include; (1) The Sea Isle Plantation west access with parking located north of Hwy 58, (2) A walkway located between the Ocean Club and Salter Path Campground with parking located north of Hwy 58, and (3) An access/parking area located immediately east of the Baptist Children’s Home oceanfront gazebo. These new areas are in addition to the Trinity Center, Roosevelt State Park, and Indian Beach access/parking facilities that are all located within the Project beach. Stroud Engineering has been retained for the new construction and the work should be completed in time for the summer season.

3/22/04 - For the past week, the hopper dredge BE Lindholm has been excavating the remaining pockets of shoal material from the Outer Harbor reach of the Morehead City Federal Navigation Project. The material has been pumped in the vicinity of Station 61.8 near Sea Isle Plantation, Indian Beach and at a new submerged line landing area at Station 65.9, located at the Roosevelt State Park in Salter Path. Beach nourishment activity is progressing west from this point towards the Indian Beach 4WD Ramp/Beach Access (see progress map above). Although the linear distance of beach nourishment was completed last Monday, Weeks Marine has been nourishing discreet areas that received less fill during initial construction that transpired in the past several weeks.

The dredge RN Weeks should be returning to the area from the Carolina/Kure Beach Renourishment Project early this week to accompany the BE Lindholm and complete the Section 933 Project by this Thursday (3/25/04). Weeks Marine will subsequently mobilize to the Emerald Isle FEMA Project that will utilize approximately 134,000 cubic yards of sand for beach nourishment along a cumulative stretch of 12,300 feet of beach and dune construction along a 1,000 foot corridor located just west of the Old Emerald Isle Pier Access. The borrow site for the project will be the offshore dredged material disposal site (ODMDS), which is often used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during routine annual maintenance (dredging) of the Outer Harbor. The work must be completed by the March 31, 2004 regulatory deadline.

3/15/04 - The BE Lindholm pumped the last grains of sand along the Pine Knoll Shores corridor of the Section 993 Project this morning. Although this completes the linear distance of beach encompassing the Section 933 Project, Weeks Marine intends to remain in the area and continue dredging the harbor and placing shoal material along certain areas of Indian Beach near the current submerged line landing (Station 61.8 - see progress map above).

Weeks Marine has also just been awarded the Emerald Isle FEMA Project that will utilize approximately 134,000 cubic yards of sand for beach nourishment along a cumulative stretch of 12,300 feet of beach and dune construction along a 1,000 foot corridor located just west of the Old Emerald Isle Pier Access. The borrow site for the project will be the offshore dredged material disposal site (ODMDS), which is often used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during routine annual maintenance (dredging) of the Outer Harbor. The schedule is tentative regarding the Section 933 Project, the Emerald Isle FEMA Project, and the Carolina/Kure Beach renourishment project that Weeks Marine has all been awarded, but it appears that the work can be completed by the March 31, 2004 regulatory deadline.

3/8/04 - The Outer Harbor Section 933 Project is approximately 82% complete and the beach fill will begin entering Pine Knoll Shores in the early part of this week. Weeks Marine continued the Section 933 Project this past Sunday after a day of “down-time” associated with the southwest gale-force winds experienced on Saturday (March 6th). The hopper dredge RN Weeks is scheduled to leave the Morehead City Harbor Section 933 Project today for the Carolina/Kure Beach renourishment project while the hopper dredge BE Lindholm will remain on-site until the project is completed. The submerged line landing for the Section 933 Project is currently positioned at Station 61.8 and beach nourishment activities are progressing eastward from this point. Please see the Progress Map above for a graphic depiction of these activities.

3/1/04 - The Outer Harbor Section 933 Project is almost three-quarters complete as the project enters the fourth week of construction. The submerged line was moved this past Wednesday (2/25/04) to Station 61.8 near Sea Isle Plantation (west) and beach nourishment has been progressing westward from this point where the fill will eventually tie in with the nourishment that was previously constructed before the submerged line was moved. The Progress map above provides a graphic depiction of these activities. Construction will begin progressing eastward from Station 61.8 (Sea Isle Plantation) sometime in the early part of this week.

2/23/04 - The Outer Harbor Section 933 Project is entering its third week of construction and Weeks Marine have completed approximately 7,000 out of 15,600 linear feet of the project. Fortunately, the weather conditions have been favorable during this two week time period. The discharge pipe is still located at the western edge of the Summer Winds Condominium complex (Station 69.1 in the figure above) and beach nourishment operations are progressing towards the east at the time of this update. The submerged line and the location of the discharge pipe will likely be repositioned some time this week near the Sea Isle Plantation corridor of eastern Indian Beach. As mentioned in last week's update, the fill width & volume is being adjusted along the beach to accommodate for pre-project conditions while providing a continuous, straight shoreline throughout the project.

2/16/04 - Dredging of the Outer Harbor and concurrent beach nourishment began February 8th. The discharge pipe is located at the western edge of the Summer Winds Condominium complex (Station 69.1 in the figure above) and beach nourishment operations have progressed towards Emerald Isle from this point to the far western limit of the project near the Indian Beach/Emerald Isle Town Boundary. The beach fill has now begun progressing eastward from Station 69.1 and will continue to do so for the remainder of the week. Production has been very positive for the first week of the Project and the fill width & volume is being adjusted along the beach to accommodate for pre-project conditions while providing a straight shoreline. Approximately 25% of the linear distance of the project has been completed.

2/6/04 - The hopper dredge RN Weeks has arrived and is docked at the Morehead City Port, and the submerged line is now buoyed and floating in the Harbor just north of the Fort Macon Coast Guard Station. The hopper dredge BE Lindholm is in Norfolk and will join the RN Weeks in the next few days. We hope that dredging will begin on Sunday or Monday after the forecasted rough seas subside. On the beach, the submerged line will outfall in Indian Beach at the Summer Winds Condominium complex near Station 69.1, which is actually situated at the very western edge of Summer Winds (see progress map above). The pipe and beachfill will progress west towards Emerald Isle, and then east from this discharge point (Summer Winds - Station 69.1).

1/27/04 - The two hopper dredges (BE Lindholm and RN Weeks) that are scheduled to be employed for the Morehead City Outer Harbor Section 933 Project are presently completing a project in New York and will begin mobilizing to Bogue Banks once this project has been completed. Considering the distance and weather involved with this mobilization, it is expected that the dredges should arrive sometime the first week in February to start the Section 933 Project. Weeks Marine is seeking to utilize the Iron Steamer Access in Pine Knoll Shores as a staging area for dredge pipe and heavy equipment.

1/8/04 – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should formally award the dredging contract to Weeks Marine next week. It is expected that that mobilization of dredging equipment and the construction start will occur the last week of January.

How to Interpret the Progress Map for Phase I of the Section 933 Project

Phase I of the Section 933 Project, or the “Outer Harbor Phase” will utilize approximately 900,000 cubic yards of dredged shoal material obtained from the outer harbor of the Morehead City Federal Navigation Project for beach nourishment along a 3.0 mile stretch of shoreline encompassing Indian Beach/Salter Path and the westernmost 2,500 feet of oceanfront shoreline in Pine Knoll Shores. The dredging contract has been awarded to Weeks Marine, Inc.

Sand that is dredged at the harbor will be obtained using two ocean-certified, self-contained 4,000-cubic yard capacity hopper dredges (the B.E. Lindholm and R.N. Weeks) that essentially store dredged sand in the vessel’s “belly” or hopper.  Subsequent to completing a cut and filling the hopper, each dredge will travel and discharge sand to a buoyed pipeline located offshore that extends to the pre-construction dry beach.  A secondary “Y-valve” discharge pipe is used to transport material in one direction (east or west), then the other to complete ~1-2 mile sections.  Dredged sand will be bulldozed into general construction specifications for subsequent grading into final contours, tilled, and opened for recreational use. 

Project engineers use “stations” positioned along the beach to track nourishment projects and to verify in-place volumes of sand placed on the beach by dredging contractors.  The stations for the Brandt Island Pump-Out/Section 933 Project are provided in the figure above.  These station numbers conveniently correspond to thousands of linear feet along the beach.  For instance, the distance between station “60” and “61” on the graphic above is approximately 1,000 feet.  The distance from station “65” to tick mark “70” is approximately 5,000 feet.   If you visit the beaches of central Bogue Banks this winter you may see wood or metal stakes at the base of the dunes that will identify these station numbers.  

The progress map provides a detailed view of the Section 933 reach to be completed in the winter of 2004 with station numbers and the location of the buoyed pipeline.  The shaded areas in red represent the completed portions of the project and will be updated on a weekly basis throughout the construction.