# Buxton Beach Nourishment Project



## aln (May 29, 2006)

I've seen some articles about a beach nourishment project in Buxton around the motels and Oramar in 2017 and was wondering if there was any new info on that as far as start / end dates ? I'm getting ready to sign my 
lease for a late October rental oceanfront on Oramar Drive but I don't want to book there if sand's being pumped. I wouldn't think they would dredge that time of year but ya never know. I've checked the Dare Cnty. page 
and looked in the Island Free Press but can't find anything current. Also ask the realtors if they had heard anything definite and they were clueless as well. So any of you guys have some inside baseball on this project ?


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## Jollymon (May 21, 2015)

Hold off signing till your sure, I'm sure someone at Dare Cnty. would know you'll have to do some calling and not wait to find it on a website.


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

Just an FYI for anyone heading OBX this spring/summer/fall. There are beach nourishment projects for both the northern and southern OBX. For those interested here is the best link for info regarding the projects
http://morebeachtolove.com/ and according to a reservation specialist with Midgette Realty the Buxton project is scheduled to start in April and be completed by June but I can't find any confirmation for it yet.


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## Jollymon (May 21, 2015)

How's it going to effect the fishing


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## bronzbck1 (Jun 13, 2007)

It wont


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## bronzbck1 (Jun 13, 2007)

It wont effect fishing


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## LEADDRAFT (Oct 9, 2001)

Jollymon said:


> How's it going to effect the fishing


I beg to differ on that.. Ask most of Us folks "down South" it has been discussed extensively here..


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## bronzbck1 (Jun 13, 2007)

Your talking about a half mile of beach


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

LEADDRAFT said:


> I beg to differ on that.. Ask most of Us folks "down South" it has been discussed extensively here..


I visited and lived at Carolina Beach when the first beach nourishment was done down there and I guarantee it screwed up fishing there BIG TIME and it hasn't been the same since. Covered all the natural shell beds and filled in sloughs, holes and troughs almost end to end.


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

bronzbck1 said:


> Your talking about a half mile of beach


What .. you mean the Buxton project is only a half mile ?? Thought it was 2.9 miles ..


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## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

Aln: looks like 2.9 miles to me. I am not privy to first hand experience but everything I have read about this kills fishing.


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## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

I am not trying throw fuel on the fire but do the bird brains have anything to do with this? if they smurf up the fishing even more will they be working towards their ultimate goal?


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## bronzbck1 (Jun 13, 2007)

I would like to see a map of what they are doing. Buxton doesn't have 2.9 miles of ocean front.
They need to do the whole island. You can't fish but 2-3 hours tops ether side of low tide right now. Been that way since Mathew. I don't see winter storms helping the mater.


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

Straight off the Dare County morebeachtolove website ..
" The Buxton Beach Nourishment project will be constructed in 2017 to ensure safe reliable access to Hatteras Island via NC 12. The project includes approximately 2.9 miles of beach and will initially widen the beach by approximately 250 feet. The project cost is estimated at $25 million, with the majority of the funding coming from the Beach Nourishment Fund.

On June 6, 2016 the Dare County Commissioners voted to establish a service district for the Buxton Beach Nourishment Project that includes parcels of land at the north end of Buxton located between Highway 12 and Old Lighthouse Road, and the four parcels north of Highway 12. This Service District went into effect with the new budget year on July 1 and the tax rate included in the 2017 Budget is 25 cents per $100 of valuation. This means that a property owner in the service district with a home assessed at $300,000 pays $750 in taxes. The tax rate is established each year by the Board of Commissioners as part of the annual budgeting process."

And there is a map of the service district available on the Dare cnty. site


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## bronzbck1 (Jun 13, 2007)

So they are going north of town into 38 & going around the horn to the jettys. That's 2.9


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## poppop1 (Feb 16, 2004)

Aln, did the beach nourishment work at Carolina beach?? They did a big beach nourishment at the northern end of North Topsail beach around 2013, big dune, sea oats, snow fence, new ramps to the beach. it looked great, I don't think it lasted a year, the ocean slowly but surely just ate that sand away, now there are sand bags protecting the homes, it's a shame. I am not a Al Gore fan for sure, but something is going on along the coast, either the coast is sinking or the ocean is rising, or both. A lot smarter people out there than I, so I would love to hear some good answers, and I hope the Buxton beach nourishment works.


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

bronzbck1 said:


> So they are going north of town into 38 & going around the horn to the jettys. That's 2.9


Pretty much. Only reason I was interested is because I had a pending 2 week oceanfront house reservation late October near the motels. And I did want to pass along the info to others cause if your renting property within 
an area where beach construction is going on .. and planned to fish where you're staying .. pipes, dozers and sand pumping can really f'up your trip if you're figuring on walking out your door to fish the beach.


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## bronzbck1 (Jun 13, 2007)

Rent in Rodanthe or Hatteras Village


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## LEADDRAFT (Oct 9, 2001)

Let Me please "chime-in" here.. The "point" where is sand starts being "pumped & dumped", Southwards from the "starting point" Will be DEAD & DEVOID, of fish for the following year, until the next spring/summer.. this is a fact. Everything on the shoreline/seabottom will be Devoid of LIFE. Those lil critters that reside on the bottom are buried with Sterile sand. NO fish in their right mind will inhabit the area(s), as there won't be anything for them to feed on. Sand fleas, coquina clams, worms, etc etc, are gone. Which equals NO fish.. Trust Me I know... Every 3 years Carolina Beach gets it's "renourishment", it takes the Beach & bottom a spring & till the following spring to recover.
We'll have one "Bad" year of fishing then 2 great years, or until this tomfoolery is repeated again...


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## LEADDRAFT (Oct 9, 2001)

poppop1 said:


> Aln, did the beach nourishment work at Carolina beach?? They did a big beach nourishment at the northern end of North Topsail beach around 2013, big dune, sea oats, snow fence, new ramps to the beach. it looked great, I don't think it lasted a year, the ocean slowly but surely just ate that sand away, now there are sand bags protecting the homes, it's a shame. I am not a Al Gore fan for sure, but something is going on along the coast, either the coast is sinking or the ocean is rising, or both. A lot smarter people out there than I, so I would love to hear some good answers, and I hope the Buxton beach nourishment works.


 What's happening is Natural for Topsail, especially the North End. Years ago, even before it was "built", the Developer(s), (The Guys name Marlow Bostic, HE is the one Whom built those Condos called "the reef" & St Regis, flown in on Copters years ago, pre-fabed Condos ) were warned of the Nature of the Inlet. The Island itself does what's called "Island/beach overturn", ALL Barrier Islands do this. This is Why they, (Barrier Islands) are called Shifting Sands.. It's a natural occurrence.. I could explain it all, but it would be quite lengthy..
Here is a Old News Article on the original developer, Marlow Bostic--> http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/NC/20060420/News/605116550/WM/

Years ago, before Marlow Bostic "Developed" North Topsail, there was a "Hill" about 150 FEET tall of sand & a massive Live Oak forest where the Inlet currently is Located @ present... a Massive Dune like Kitty Hawk has.. Marlow Bulldosed "flat" ..Using the sand filling in Wetlands for St Regis etc..


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## LEADDRAFT (Oct 9, 2001)

Search for Papers by, Orrin H. Pilkey Jr, He is the Worlds leading guy on Barrier Islands & their Geology.. As far as, Beach re-nourishment, is just a Band aide on what, Or stopping Natural Process of the Islands.. I did alil research for you. For example, on the "Backside" of N. Topsail, the Island is trying to "overturn". I watched over 2 winters, sand filling in the back side into the Marshes, raising the height in places about 3 FEET, the Island is trying to "heal itself" (turn over), but... People are just to stupid to realize this, trying to stop NATURAL Processes. I could show you a old property Map(s) of lots drawn out that would astound you, as they were drawn up in the Early 70's.
see---> https://books.google.com/books?id=X...RAhXL6CYKHXDxCHUQ6AEIUTAI#v=onepage&q&f=false
---> https://books.google.com/books?id=Q...RAhXL6CYKHXDxCHUQ6AEIPjAF#v=onepage&q&f=false


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## BigWillJ (Jan 21, 2001)

Thanks for starting this thread aln. If I read it all correctly, the "completion" date for Buxton that you got from Midgett doesn't agree with the date on the Dare County website......Midgett says June, Dare says end of 2017. Again, thanks for the heads up. It might affect our plans also.


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

Thanks for the heads up BigWillJ .. they just posted that today. After talking to the people at Midgette last week and them telling me they would be finished with the Buxton project by June I went ahead and paid the first part of my reservation for late
October. I'll keep an eye on the site for updates but I find it hard to believe any dredging operation would want to be putting sand on the Buxton beach anytime after July/August because of the storm season and would think they would get it going
in early spring to get some help from the southerly wind patterns. Guess we'll find out soon enough.


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## poppop1 (Feb 16, 2004)

LEADDRAFT, some excellent information, I have a lot of interesting reading ahead, very kind of you. I don't want to hi jack this post regarding Buxton's beach nourishment, but I would like to discuss beach erosion, here's my e-mail if you care to use it. [email protected], I'm not good using PM's on this site, I seem to always mess them up, .....thanks.


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## Bosco (Jan 2, 2017)

Looking at Surfchex cam that is at Kure Beach, when camera swings south down the beach. There appears to be 12-18" of shore gone from high tide line out. Not sure when they last rebuilt it, a losing battle.


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## bronzbck1 (Jun 13, 2007)

My experience here is Hatteras is further out in the ocean with two currents meeting together. We have a lot more current 50 to 70 miles out to sea compared to Carolina Beach. When Nags Head did there nourishment we fished the tournament months later and found fleas and won the tournament. Plenty of fish around. I don't fish up north a lot but I did trout fish up there too without any issues. What I'm saying is it will bounce back a lot quicker here


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

I don't doubt the beach will bounce back quickly but if the project drags out into Oct.-Nov I would think it would have a fairly significant negative impact on the fishing from the haul over all the way down to the point during prime drum season .. 
but I've never fished a Hatteras beach during a project. It looked to me like the Rodanthe project at the S curves didn't last all that long .. but it may be the water is more shallow than it was and has less drop off.


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## LEADDRAFT (Oct 9, 2001)

bronzbck1 said:


> My experience here is Hatteras is further out in the ocean with two currents meeting together. We have a lot more current 50 to 70 miles out to sea compared to Carolina Beach. When Nags Head did there nourishment we fished the tournament months later and found fleas and won the tournament. Plenty of fish around. I don't fish up north a lot but I did trout fish up there too without any issues. What I'm saying is it will bounce back a lot quicker here


Honestly, as there are More "Currents" in & around Hatteras, You maybe right, though If you had "Lots" of beach further up from where the Sand was "dumped" at a Starting Point, most likey hood that Fleas, Clams etc, have those Stronger currents to repopulate the "re-nourished" beach. We don't have that "benefit here down South" You could say, in places Sand Fleas are hard to come by.. Maybe we should list'em as "Concerned" Like those Plovers to get Folks from Dumping sands upon Shifting sands.. 
(Not to Hi-jack the thread)...
Though maybe the COE, has got a better sand recipe, than We do here, meaning ya'll can find sand, that matches the coarseness & grade, or fineness. That has ALOT to do with Making or Breaking a Beach project.. LOOK @ N. Topsail the ended up dumping a assload of the Wrong Kind of Sand AND Rock(s), or Live reef stuff.. AKA Limestone..
Topsail Island in of itself doesn't have much, If ANY sand to mine anywhere near it.. Offshore anyway.. Part of the Reason WHY the north end shifts around so dern much.. If you "Starve" a Barrier Island of the Sand Transport Processes your going to have Problems anyway you look at it.. And this is part of Topsails problem.. 
In the end, the effect is just the same.. Might as well take several million dollar bills & just dump the Whole She-bang off the end of a Pier.. A "Decent" Storm will wash it all away..
As for Carolina Beach, We had that MASSIVE re-nourishment Project, 1-1/2 years back, Late 2015).. Biggest ever they said.. Laid out some 250~300 feet of beach. With close to 10 feet of sand in Elevation.. Now, every bit is Gone, and the beach, all in all is worse off for it, in people terms.. though now there are some Awesome Bars & Slews, that really didn't exist before, It looks Like Hartteras in places... But with time, the Critters came back.. This coming year, I suspect, we'll have some Off the hook surf Fishing.. It was fairly much pretty good, this fall from what I experienced.. Your Sand Pump & dump just may , Be "quicker" in the Fishing Dept.. Though, I wouldn't hold My breath.. Maybe We'll re-visit this thread next Fall and compare results.. For the Fellow Member that wants Me to E-mail Him info, on this Subect.. I will let me go back & dig up some informational links.. I'll try to post'em here in a separate "new" thread, And E-mail you some. It maybe picture heavy..
Good Fishing Folks! The Rock-fish bite has been Fairly good in the North-East & Cape Fear Rivers as of Late, from the Memorial bridge to Just up above the New Bridge.. Here in Wilmington//..


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

aln said:


> I don't doubt the beach will bounce back quickly but if the project drags out into Oct.-Nov I would think it would have a fairly significant negative impact on the fishing from the haul over all the way down to the point during prime drum season ..
> but I've never fished a Hatteras beach during a project. It looked to me like the Rodanthe project at the S curves didn't last all that long .. but it may be the water is more shallow than it was and has less drop off.


 I did fish Rodanthe at that time.. There was some sediment for a while although it passed quickly.. Oh,and the end of Rodanthe has always been the deepest pier on Hatteras,that is including the old Frisco Pier... I agree with Bronzback,it will affect fishing for a spell,but it will return quickly...


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Drumdum said:


> I did fish Rodanthe at that time.. There was some sediment for a while although it passed quickly.. Oh,and the end of Rodanthe has always been the deepest pier on Hatteras,that is including the old Frisco Pier... I agree with Bronzback,it will affect fishing for a spell,but it will return quickly...


We need to pump more sand everywhere, start by pumping out Oregon Inlet, put another Jetty on the North Side of Oregon Inlet so the sand does not fill into the inlet during NE wind events. State should create a full time department of Pumping and spend 24/7 pumping somewhere.

People who complain about beach re-nourishment and at the same time want to fish the beaches, should recognize that places where significant erosion has occurred say like Kitty Hawk there is no ready beach access as the beach is gone...gone South, along with about fifty oceanfront homes that people used to enjoy, including all the homes I stayed in as a child.

Try and park your vehicle along RT 12 and fish Kitty Hawk these days, you will have a hard time finding fleas as the water is right on top of RT 12.

Rodanthe was typically only 25 feet deep on the end, which it never seems to be able to withstand big surf, as in 25 foot surf. Most all the sand pumped up in 2014 at Rodanthe was moved offshore of Salvo likely and has not made its way back to the beachfront.

Sand Fleas need to be restocked on every pump job.

I have yet to see a razor clam on any of the beaches I have been at in the last two months. I guess pollution has killed them off.. back in the 1960's the beaches on the OBX were littered with razor clam shells. Need to restock razor clams along with the sand fleas, might as well throw in Coquinas also as they are mighty scarce these days. Only thing in excess are Wings stores 50% off all the time.

Stay away from Buxton in October, as the planned October 2017 beach re-nourishment will devastate the fishing especially big Drum fishing at the Hatteras piers and the Point. Not sure why but the fellas from down SE NC say its so....

Fishing is real slow down here, down to 5 cobs in my cooler and they are getting rather ripe. they are three weeks old at this point, heads are still bloody but the bodies are going soft. May fish tomorrow morning for Stripers up here in KDH where there is plenty of sand by the way.....

Take one dollar from the fishing license sales and pump sand with it, instead of hiring another LEO in a Tahoe to patrol the off limits area South of the Point.


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## BigWillJ (Jan 21, 2001)

"Stay away from Buxton in October, as the planned October 2017 beach re-nourishment will devastate the fishing especially big Drum fishing at the Hatteras piers and the Point. Not sure why but the fellas from down SE NC say its so...."
Said differently..... if you come to Buxton in October, fish south, so anglers can pre-fish and fish north for the drum tourney.

"Take one dollar from the fishing license sales and pump sand with it, instead of hiring another LEO in a Tahoe to patrol the off limits area South of the Point."
Like.


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## UncleSlayton (Dec 8, 2013)

I trout fished Topsail in December and the impact from the nourishment after Matthew made the beaches extremely flat a long way out. To trout fish, you needed to fish 2hrs before to 2hrs after Low tide to catch fish off the edge. No sloughs or troughs.


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

The Buxton beach nourishment project is scheduled to commence June 1 and and end August 31 +/- on the dates due to weather. Not sure if the dates include mobilization and de-mobilization but the Dare County website and morebeachtolove.com is the place to look to get regular weekly updates. If they keep to schedule then I would think the affect on late October drum fishing would be minimal :beer: .


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

Looks like the latest schedule for the Buxton project has it going on till December .. that aint good. And I pity the fools trying to construct a beach there that time of year .. but it's par since I rented a beach front house the first of November. Seems like every year it's something out there that screws up my annual trip .. still worth it.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

They are pumping right now. Not sure why they think it will take to December. Dredge is right off of 43 at the moment.


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

Morebeachtolove says they are turning back north when they shut down this weekend for weather and they're only about 1/4 the way done. Made no sense to me either for the extended timeline. Common sense would say they construct
in front of the motels before turning back north but when your dealing with "Professional Engineers" you just never know. Just like the PE up at the bridge that forgot to call before ya dig  ..


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