FEMA Phase 5 Truck-Hauled Sand Project
The FEMA NTB Phase 5 Cat. G truck-hauled sand project commenced on Monday, February 28th, 2022. The contractor, S.T. Wooten Corporation, is utilizing the Gray Street Beach Access and began working to the north from Gray Street. The project was temporarily suspended on May 1, 2022 for the sea turtle nesting. No work is permitted to occur during the sea turtle nesting and hatching window (May 1 to November 15) without special authorization. The project will resume on November 16, 2022 and continue to April 30, 2023. Gray Street access will be closed while the contractor is working Monday through Friday. Any remaining work will be completed in November and December 2023. The project in total consists of hauling and placing approximately 636,000 cubic yards (cy) of sand along approximately 18,500 feet of NTB shoreline – from the Surf City Border up to around 3686 Island Drive. The contractors for this work are ST Wooten and CM Mitchell.
Order of Work – on November 16, 2022 work will begin where it left off at around 14th Avenue and work north. Once the northern portion is completed, beach fill work will begin at the Gray Street access and work south to the Surf City Border.
***Please note this is different from the previous dune haul projects and material will be placed ON the active beach therefore beach walkers will have to use existing public beach accesses to go around the project. The beach closures will occur where sand is actively being placed while some heavy machinery can be expected between Gray Street and the active sand placement area.***
Status Updates
04-30-2024 update: The Phase 5 work has been granted a time extension to Friday, May 17 in order to finish out this portion of the project. The sand hauler has about 1,200 feet of shoreline remaining, beginning at about 346 Seashore Drive and working northeast to about 113 South Permuda Wynd Drive. The trucks will continue to access the beach at Gray Street. The sand hauler is progressing about 100 feet per day and weather has been favorable which helps in production/progress. Thank you for your patience while we work to place sand on the beach and officially close the Phase 5 project out.
02-01-24 update: Operations continue. There was a temporary slowdown with progress that the contractor reported with the 421-sand production being slower than normal due to delayed expansion permitting. The slowed production of beach compatible sand has affected progress; however, it is the Town’s expectation that the contractor completes the project by the end of the current environmental permitting window which ends on April 30th. The contractor has been back to placing normal volumes since mid-January and is working Monday through Saturday.
11-15-2023 update: Operations will resume November 16, 2023 as scheduled. Trucks will be entering the Gray Street beach access and will start placing sand at the Surf City line and continue approximately 3,200 feet North of the Town line. The Contractor will pause operations for the Thanksgiving holiday on November 23rd and November 24th. At the close of last season, we placed 410,905 Cubic Yards of sand and expect to place an additional 225,095 Cubic Yards of sand that is expected to be completed in February 2024! The contractor will be pausing for Thanksgiving on Thursday and Friday.
10-11-2023 update: The Town’s contractor will commence with sand hauling operations on November 16, 2023. We will continue to place sand on the beach in Phase 5. The contractor will start placing sand where they left off at the South end of Permuda Wynd, approximately 3,200 feet North of the Town line. They will continue placing sand to the Surf City line. At the close of the season, we placed 410,905 Cubic Yards of sand and expect to place an additional 225, 095 Cubic Yards of sand that is expected to be completed in February of 2024.
05-01-2023 update: The Town has received authorization to continue placing sand on the beach in Phase 5 through May 19, 2023. The Town’s contractor is currently utilizing the Gray Street Access and working the beach seaward of South Permuda Wynd the week of May 1st. They are currently stockpiling material along the upland and waiting for calmer seas/waves to push the material into the beach fill template. Next week they will finish up the South Permuda Wynd shoreline area and move towards the campground area. The following week ending May 19th, we anticipate the contractor to be working the northern end of Seashore Drive. To date, approximately 410,000 CY’s of sand have been placed and stockpiled ready to push.
04-06-2023 update: The Board of Aldermen at their meeting on April 5, 2023, authorized work to continue through May 19, 2023, to place sand on the beach in Phase 5, which is pending authorization. We are currently scheduled to pause operations April 30th; however, are requesting authorization to continue until May 19, 2023. We will know in approximately two weeks if authorization is granted and will provide an update at that time. We have placed as of April 3, 2023, 358,336 CY’s of sand on the active beach in Phase 5. This additional time, if granted, will allow us to place an estimated 40,000 CY’s of sand beyond what will be placed as of Aril 30th.
02-02-2023 Announcement: Please be advised that the Town’s contractor will be temporarily removing the beach cross over at 2nd Avenue and opening up the dune on Monday February 6th to expedite the Phase 5 sand nourishment project and to aid in the logistics of additional trucks coming at the end of the month. The access will remain closed until the end of April while the contractor works. The contractors will use this as a temporary access to complete the northern nourishment template and continue to use the Gray Street access (where they will work south placing sand). The 2nd Avenue access will be restored to pre-existing conditions immediately after the project.
Thank you for your patience while we work to get more sand placed on the beach before our environmental window closes for the season.
01-09-2023 update: The Town’s contractor resumed operations as scheduled on January 4, 2023, continuing to work from the Gray Street beach access. Since starting back up in November, we have placed as of last Friday approximately 65,526 more Cubic Yards of sand on the active beach. Here is a birds eye view of the project as recorded by the Town’s drone on Friday afternoon.
12-20-2022 update: Please be advised that the Town’s contractor will pause sand hauling operations on Thursday December 22nd for the holidays. They are scheduled to resume operations on January 4, 2023, working again from the Gray Street beach access. Since starting back up in November, we have placed as of last Wednesday approximately 39,997 more Cubic Yards of sand on the active beach. Thank you for your patience.
11-23-2022 update: The Town’s contractor ramped up Monday morning and started hauling sand as scheduled from the Gray St. access. They will pause work on Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday and resume work on Monday morning. Here is a bird’s eye view of the project that was recorded by the Town’s drone which shows their operations and progress so far.
11-15-2022 update: The Town’s contractor, ST Wooten will resume the Phase 5 beach nourishment project and begin mobilizing equipment and prepping the Gray Street beach access on Wednesday, November 16th. Mobilization and set-up will occur through Friday and we anticipate there will be some truck hauling as well. ST Wooten plans to go to peak production mode on Monday, November 21st. Work is scheduled Monday through Friday weather permitting and the Gray Street beach access will be closed while work is being performed. They will continue working north of the access at an approximate start address being 110 Topsail Road and will work north to approximately 3682 Island Drive. We anticipate that in February, the beach nourishment project will begin at Gray Street and work south through the permitted environmental window of April 2023.
Why is the contractor working north first? This is for seasonal reasons. More waves from the north pushing sand to the south in the winter, then more waves from the south in the spring push material north.
This is not a dune project as we are continuing to place sand on the active area of the beach. Please exercise caution in and around work areas. Thank you for your patience as we continue to place sand on the beach.
