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Next Generation Logistics has completed the $6.9 million project in Cape Lookout – dredging from Back Sound to Lookout Bight.
The completion of this project greatly improves access to Barden Inlet and the Cape Lookout Bight. The channel between Harkers Island and the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, including Barden’s Inlet and “the drain” has been substantially improved.
This channel is now one hundred feet wide, with depths ranging from seven to nine feet. Once final surveys are completed, it is expected that the United States Coast Guard will re-introduce navigational aids marking the channel.
In addition to the opening of this channel, dredge sand has been used to substantially renourish the area of beach directly in front of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.
Approximately 30,000 cubic yards of dredge sand were emplaced there, creating a wide and deep beachfront. Additional dredge sand has been emplaced on Sandbag Island (also known as, “bird island”) just southeast of Harkers Island.
While the dredging operations have completed, the process of demobilization continues. Over the coming weeks, Next Generation Logistics will continue to remove dredge equipment, supporting vehicles and other supplies from the area. Areas of Harkers Island that had been dedicated toward supporting dredge operations will slowly be returned to their former uses.