Hunting Island is one of the most rapidly eroding barriers islands on the US East Coast with losses averaging upward of 25 feet per year. Projects completed between 1968 and 2003 have added 4.5 million cubic yards to Hunting Island from various borrow sources.

The South Carolina Department of Parks Recreation & Tourism (PRT) contracted with Coastal Science & Engineering (Columbia) in December 2004 to initiate engineering work on Hunting Island. CSE will be designing a beach restoration project involving nourishment and groins. (Groins are structures placed across the beach to trap and hold sand moving along the coast.) Budgeted at $8.2 million, the project's goal is to reduce the rate of erosion and stabilize the shoreline at key recreation points.

PRT officials have been dealing with chronic rapid erosion along Hunting Island for over 30 years. Land losses as high as 25 feet per year are among the highest of any beach on the US coast. Hunting Island's famous lighthouse was once over 1,000 feet from the ocean; it is barely 450 feet away today. And this condition persists despite five nourishment projects completed between 1968 and 1991.

CSE has assisted PRT since 1989. The present project will draw on that experience as well as work by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. Hunting Island is one of the best-studied shorelines in South Carolina. Numerous institutions (including SC Sea Grant, Clemson University, and University of South Carolina) have worked on the problem.

Dr. Tim Kana, president of CSE, said that his company hopes to design a solution that will lessen erosion while maintaining the underlying character of the island. Groins are the most cost-efficient solution, but they pose certain aesthetic problems. Kana says the challenge is to use as few groins as possible and configure them so that they are mostly buried. "We also want to leave long sections of the island uninterrupted by groins. This will preserve the wild character and driftwood on the beach in some areas," Kana says.

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Visit the official Hunting Island State Park site

PRT officials have long been concerned about old stumps and debris in the surf. The state's liability for someone being injured in the swimming areas could exceed the cost of a beach restoration project. Park staff devote considerable time and expense in removing fallen trees. The planned project would create safer swimming areas.

CSE initiated engineering and permitting work on the project in December. A draft plan was presented to the interagency group on January 6th at SCDHEC-OCRM in Charleston. Representatives of the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Fish & Wildlife Service, SC Department Natural Resources, and SCDHEC Bureau of Water were asked for input and comments on the project.

Each month, PRT will provide an update of the project in this space. For questions or comments, contact dsimms@scprt.com or cse@coastalscience.com.

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