PTC #8 Northern Shoreline Dune Project
Potential Tropical Cyclone #8 is the unnamed storm that occurred on September 16, 2024, which caused dune erosion mostly in Phases 1-3 on North Topsail Beach. The Town immediately requested a post storm survey from our engineers.
September, 2024 – March, 2025: Onslow County was included in Governor Cooper’s State of Emergency and work commenced with project preparation and to complete the Request for Public Assistance. Meetings with FEMA and State have occurred weekly and are still on-going while consideration is underway for funds to be obligated. On March 19, 2025, the Board of Aldermen held a special meeting to approve a contract to proceed with work and to haul and place an estimated 61,000 Cubic Yards of Dune Fill (sand) in the amount of $2,937,000.00. The contract with the contractor is pending with work anticipated to start in April 2025. The contractor will be accessing the beach at the Jenkins Way beach access.
Status Updates
05/02/25 UPDATE – The contractor finished work on May 2, 2025, for the season and has paused operations until November 2025. Coordination with FEMA continues for this project.
04/22/2025 UPDATE - Our Engineer in discussions with the contractor and the Division of Coastal Management (for permitting), have determined that the current plan is for the contractor to complete the Phase 4 project and then proceed to the PTC #8 dune restoration project for areas where little to no dune currently exists. It is planned that the contractor will finish Phase 4 work by Monday, April 28, 2025. The contractor will then relocate to the Jenkins Way access to start work on the PTC # 8 dune restoration project.
These areas include just South of Marina Way, North of Barton Bay, One Topsail Dunes structure, and a small section fronting Shipwatch Villas. Example photos shown below. These areas were determined by our engineers to be the most vulnerable to flooding during storm systems with elevated wave and water levels. We have applied for a permit extension with the Division of Coastal Management for critical dune work to occur until Friday, May 9, 2025. The remainder of the dune system in the project area, which is located mainly in Phases 1-3 will be done in November of 2025 following turtle nesting/hatching season. Coordination with FEMA continues for this project.
Figure 1: south of Marina Way. A large section of beach with no dune.
Figure 2: Topsail Dunes. Almost no dune here
