In addition to the Emergency Dune Restoration Project described at right, CSE has completed a preliminary study and delivered a proposal to the town of Nags Head for a full beach nourishment.

On 10 November 2004, CSE was asked to review the existing federal plan (Dare County Beaches - Bodie Island Portion September 2000) and prepare an alternative that would , among other things, be locally funded by the community and restore the sand deficit to provide comparable levels of flood and hurricane protection as the federal project .

	CSE plan overview (PDF)
	A graphical beach profile comparison of the FEMA emergency dune restoration project and CSE's proposed restoration alternative (opens new window)

Sand is stockpiled from an inland source and delivered on dump trucks. It is then loaded by back hoe onto "pan" trucks to be hauled and placed in proper locations along the beach. Note racetrack pattern left in the beach by trucks as they make their way up and down the beach.

The Town of Nags Head, NC completed a portion of emergency dune restoration between March and May 2004 under FEMA PW 299. Because of the time required to obtain state and federal permits as well as special conditions preventing work during turtle nesting months, only about 20 percent of the contracted work was completed. Remaining work consisted of placement of ~249,734 cubic yards (out of 306,400 cubic yards contracted) of beach-quality sand along ~6 miles of oceanfront.

The contractor is RPC Construction Inc. The source of sand is an approved inland pit owned by RPC in Currituck, ~23 miles from the project site. Permit restrictions specify that all remaining work must be completed between 16 November 2004 and 30 April 2005.

CSE's role in the project

CSE is providing coastal engineering services in connection with the post-Isabel dune restoration project. The FEMA-funded project calls for restoration at the "5-year" level of protection, which limits how much sand can be placed. Five-year protection is designed to withstand minor storms but not to safeguard properties from large storms (once in 10-year-level or once in 25-year-level storms). Also, the project will not last five years along sections of Nags Head that are eroding rapidly, such as the south end of the town. CSE estimates that Phase 2 will require six months to complete.


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