Thought this was interesting: How Can Oregon Inlet Be Fixed?

T

Trash Heap

Member
http://www.coastalreview.org/2015/05/how-can-oregon-inlet-be-fixed/


I am going down to the outerbanks this summer. We are staying quite a bit more south than we usually do. Looking up some fishing spots and the Oregon Inlet came up. Then I ran across articles about the problem they are having keeping it open for boats to go through.

Some interesting things in the article:

It wasn’t long after the Bonner Bridge was built in 1963 that watermen and local government officials began lobbying for construction of twin jetties that would theoretically stabilize the inlet by blocking sand traveling along the shoreline from entering the inlet. In 1970, Congress finally approved the $108 million jetty project, but failed to provide construction funds.

For the next 33 years, lobbying by the watermen – some of them the same people – continued unabated. The U.S. Department of the Interior and environmental groups, however, opposed the rock walls, saying that they would harm fisheries and property within Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, as well as erode beaches south of the inlet.

Jetty proponents said that in addition to creating jobs and tourism income, a stable, open inlet also promotes flushing that maintains water quality in the surrounding estuarine waters and allows a safe outlet for storm-driven surges.

Finally, in 2002, the White House Council on Environmental Quality announced that the jetty project was not warranted. Instead, the federal government promised to do more extensive dredging – a promise that Dare County and the state claim has not been kept.
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So there was a permanent solution, however there is going to be some environmental impact.


Meanwhile, Dare County is working feverishly to find the $3.5 million it needs to match state funds for the annual dredging budget. In the proposed agreement between the state, the Army Corps of Engineers and the county, the inlet could be dredged by the Corps for 12 hours a day for 340 days a year for about $7.3 million.
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7.3 Million Dollars a year to keep this thing open. WOW! Is this cost worth it! I know there are plenty of local businesses relying on that inlet to be open. Is there enough reason for this.
 
9andaWiggle

9andaWiggle

Addicted Member
Am I reading right, that the construction of the bridge led to sand accumulating in the inlet? Prior to the bridge, there were no problems?
 
Robadat

Robadat

Member
9andaWiggle said:
Am I reading right, that the construction of the bridge led to sand accumulating in the inlet? Prior to the bridge, there were no problems?
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I'm not sure if it was the bridge that caused the sand accumulation in the inlet or just a natural evolution of the island chain. These islands are really just glorified sand bars in the ocean. Wind, wave action and major storms all move the sand around, taking it from one location to the next. Hurricanes have be known to open up new inlets and the new currents flowing thru them can cause other ones to eventually fill up. Erecting jetties may or may not have the intended effects and could possibly cause bigger problems for the ecosystem.

This annual dredging may just be spit in the wind. Eventually, Nature will win this battle...
 
Scolai

Scolai

Active Member
We've been dealing with this problem for decades. Dare County officials are slow to recognize that the longshore currents are going to constantly deliver sand to the inlet, and any attempts to thwart nature are going to be exercises in futility. Unless they can figure out how to build a suspension bridge across 2 miles of water, they're going to fight this fight forever.

Hey, Heap. If you're coming through NC for the OBX, hit me up and we'll get a sammich or something. I'm just off of HWY 64 about 20mi east of I-95.
 
W

WAMO

Spanking His Monkey
I SEE NO GOOD COMING FROM THIS. 2 AB MEMBERS MEETING. I SEE DOOM AND GLOOM IN ALL OUR FUTURES.
 
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