Pender County beach towns outline Corps-led renourishment project; initial construction expected in December

Surf City and Topsail Beach officials told Pender County commissioners that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers coastal storm risk management project for Topsail Island is moving toward initial construction in December and will require substantial local funding and year-round dredging.

Kyle Brewer, town manager for Surf City, said the Corps project is expected to begin ‘‘in December of this year’’ and will be a 16-month, year‑round dredging operation that uses offshore borrow sites for initial construction and establishes a 50‑year renourishment program with periodic renourishments every six years.

The project’s initial construction cost estimate discussed in the meeting was approximately $187,000,000. Chris Gibson, an engineer with T.I. Coastal who has worked on island projects for decades, explained that the Army Corps project carries a roughly 65% federal cost share and a 35% local share; Surf City’s local obligation (about 17.5% of the total) was described as roughly $32,000,000 for initial construction. Periodic nourishment over 50 years was estimated in discussion at about $317,000,000.

Why it matters: the plan is intended to rebuild dunes and protective berms, protect homes and infrastructure, and preserve the islands’ recreational beaches, which local officials said are important to the tourism economy.

Officials outlined recent and interim work to reduce the scale and cost of the Corps project. Brewer said Surf City…