USACE Wilmington District has just released this very interesting video named ‘The Dredge Murden Night Operations – Big Foot Slough’.
In April 2021, USACE’s dredging vessel Murden was performing emergency dredging in Big Foot Slough to open the channel for ferries, the USCG, and other vessels.
The severe shoaling in Big Foot Slough just outside Ocracoke forced the suspension on April 7 of the Pamlico Sound ferries.
Shoaling occurs when sand and sediment fill into a ferry channel making water depths too shallow and the channel too narrow for safe operation of the ferry system’s vessels.