Tentative dates announced for beach nourishment along South Nags Head, Avon, Buxton

Crews work on the beach off Nags Head in June 2019. [photo courtesy Mere Crockett]

Sand pumping by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company to rewiden the beaches of South Nags Head has been tentatively scheduled for this August.

According to a post Friday on the Town of Nags Head beach nourishment webpage, equipment mobilization is expected to begin in mid-July, with de-mobilization expected to take place in September.

Sand will be placed on the oceanfront from 8031 South Old Oregon Inlet Road at Whalebone Junction near milepost 16 through 10435 South Old Oregon Inlet Road near the town’s boundary with Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The same company has been awarded the contract for beach widening off Avon which currently slated for May until early June, then Buxton in June and July. Those dates are according to calendar posted on Dare County’s beach nourishment website, MoreBeachToLove.com.

A public meeting on the Avon and Buxton projects is scheduled for March 24.

Nags Head’s Board of Commissioners awarded an $11,598,653 contract in January to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company.

Grants from FEMA and the state, along with money from the local beach nourishment reserve fund, will cover the cost, as the sand lost from previous beach widening was determined to have been caused by recent hurricanes and were eligible for federal and state disaster relief funds.

Weeks Marine will be handling the project off Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. Duck’s project has been tentatively sat for the month of August, but its not yet known when work in the other three towns may begin.

The dates for the projects are considered tentative due to a variety of factors. That includes the projects scheduled for this year on the Outer Banks, other projects the contractors are working on elsewhere and the weather.