Restoring popular Outer Banks beaches

The Outer Banks are a string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. Commonly referred to as “OBX” by locals and tourists, these islands are one of the most popular tourist destinations on the East Coast, boasting more than 5 million visitors each year, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said.

In addition to being a top vacation destination, the structure of the barrier islands is critical to protecting the coastal community and ecosystem from extreme weather events. 

When waves and storms crash into the dunes and grasses, these areas absorb the energy and protect the mainland. Over the years, OBX beaches have been severely impacted by hurricanes, nor’easters, and naturally occurring erosion.

To conduct the coastal protection projects, BOEM partnered closely with Coastal Protection Engineering LLC (CPE). CPE served as Dare County’s engineer for this joint effort.

During a beach nourishment project, sand located in the OCS is collected using a hopper dredge. A hopper dredge is a specialized piece of equipment, not unsimilar to a floating bucket, that uses what is essentially a vacuum to gather sand from the sea floor.

Once the hopper is full, it sails to a pump out location where it connects to a long pipe that extends to the shore.

The accumulated sand is then pumped from the hopper and transported to the beach through the pipe.

Once the dredged sand reaches the end of the pipe located onshore, it is maneuvered into place using heavy machinery.