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CALVIN R. PECK, JR.
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StarNews (Wilmington, NC)
March 22, 2012
Cape Fear River to be dredged this year
Author: Kate Elizabeth Queram
The shipping channel near the mouth of the Cape Fear River will be dredged later this year for
the first time since 2009, capping a years-long period of beach erosion on Bald Head Island that
saw large swaths of the sand slip from the coastline into the shipping passage.
Under an Army Corps of Engineers sand management plan, the inner bar area – which passes
within 400 feet of Bald Head's south beach – is required to be dredged every two years as part of
an overall maintenance schedule that keeps the channel at a depth of 44 feet.
Per the agreement, beach communities adjacent to the shipping channel receive on a rotating
basis the roughly 1.5-million cubic yards of sand pumped from the water during each dredge
cycle. That sediment plays a key role in preventing shoreline erosion for those coastal areas, and
when funding problems prevented the corps from dredging the channel in 2011, Bald Head
residents – who had been waiting four years for their turn on the receiving end – saw a
significant portion of their beach slip into the water.
"We knew we were going to have to go for a gap, but then the gap got doubled because of a lack
of funding," said Chris McCall, the island's shoreline protection coordinator. "We've been in a
holding pattern, but right now, the corps is telling us it will be dredged."
The three years between dredge cycles was due to an overall funding shortage for the corps,
which forced project managers to prioritize dredging for other parts of the shipping channel.
"Last year, we got $12.4 million for maintenance dredging, We had a need of more like $18-24
million," said Bob Keistler, the corps' navigation project manager. "So we talked to the pilots and
asked, ‘From start to finish, what are the most critical areas for speed bumps?' For the last two
cycles, Bald Head was not on that list."
But the channel has worsened since then. According to hydrograph studies from the corps, parts
of the inner bar area are as deep as 49 feet, well above the required depth of 44 feet. But other
areas, mostly on the edge of the channel closest to the shoreline, are as shallow as 2.3 feet,
making the passage precarious for ship pilots.
"It is concerning, because when you talk to the Cape Fear pilots when they come in, they're
bringing ships that draft at 41, 42 feet," Keistler said. "When they get too far to that right side,
it's a dangerous situation. It's gotten worse and worse every year, and it is an issue now."
He said it's likely the channel will be dredged at the end of the year, due to both the continuous
sand shoaling and a budget boost from $1.98 million of supplemental funding from fiscal year
2012 and an additional $6 million in relief money for damage from Hurricane Irene.
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