LOCAL
The project for the Topsail Island town, funded via state and local sources, is using sand dredged from Banks Channel to rebuild its beach
USA TODAY NETWORK
Under piercingly blue mid-March sunny skies, a marked change to the monsoon-like conditions less than 24 hours previous, crews in heavy equipment waited on the beach to receive new piping being brought up via a tug boat.
The pipes would allow more of the greyish sandy slurry dredged from Banks Channel on the mainland side of Surf City to be pumped further up the Topsail Island's beach, adding feet of space to the town's signature attraction and economic engine.
In a world full of uncertainty in the current political environment over what is and isn't funded, this Surf City beach nourishment project has managed to navigate the financial winds and move forward.
The work, which started in late January, involves pumping sand from the Intracoastal Waterway side of the Pender County beach town onto its beach strand. The nearly $20 million project, which is expected to wrap up in a few weeks, will nourish the town's entire beach, adding an estimated 60 feet of beach from the Topsail Beach line to 1,000 feet north of the Surf City Fishing Pier.
The breakdown of the project's cost is roughly $5 million from Surf City and about $14.5 million in funding coming through a one-time state grant.
Notably, no federal dollars were involved.
But that's different from the much bigger and more expensive federal nourishment project for Surf City's beach that is scheduled to start in the upcoming fall/winter dredging window. That project, similar to the federal projects that periodically nourish Wrightsville, Carolina and Kure beaches in New Hanover County and Ocean Isle Beach in Brunswick County, would guarantee a fresh injection of sand every few years. The 50-year project is estimated to cost $187 million over its lifespan, with the current funding formula calling for the federal government to pay 65% of that cost with state/local sources covering the remaining 35%.
But while everything seemed on track last year, a new administration with much different ideas about the federal government's role took over in mid-January.
Cuts to federal departments, including to personnel, projects and research grants, have dominated the headlines for weeks as a combination of executive orders from President Donald Trump and moves by the new U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, spearheaded by Elon Musk, looks to shrink the federal government's footprint.
So far that doesn't appear to have hit funding for beach and inlet projects in Southeastern N.C.
Dave Connolly, spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington office, which handles federal involvement for coastal projects in the Cape Fear region, said so far there's been no impact on funded projects.
"Things can change rapidly, but that’s our status right now," he said.
Federal funding question mark?
The cost of beach-building projects has been rising rapidly in recent years. Factors that are helping send the cost of beach nourishment surging is the high demand for projects to rebuild beaches all along the Gulf and East coasts battered by recent hurricanes and the few number of American companies out there in the dredging business.
Local beach projects that have been paused this winter due to rising costs include the federal work to boost Carolina and Kure beaches in New Hanover County and Oak Island's project, split between local funding and state funding sources, to nourish its beach.
Now, actions in Washington have raised a fresh set of worries for local officials, especially if state and local governments are asked to pick up more of the cost of coastal projects or if federal funding freezes drag on into the summer.
A Trump executive order issued Feb. 26, for example, has paused a $242 million grant awarded by the Biden administration to help fund a future span to replace the aging Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.
The Pleasure Island beach nourishment project had an estimated cost of just under $20 million. But the only bid for the work the Army Corps received came in at $37.5 million.
It's likely to be re-bid this spring with a hopeful start-date in the upcoming fall/winter dredging window, which is the only time most dredging and beach nourishment projects are allowed in order to protect nesting sea turtles and shorebirds.
Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at [email protected] or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.
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