Consultant: Nags Head beaches largely stable; town readies 2026'27 nourishment project

A consultant for Nags Head Town told the mayor and commissioners that the town's Oct. 2024'June 2025 beach monitoring survey found net sand gains in monitored areas and that the town is moving forward with planning a large beach nourishment project.

"This was not that bad of a year. It was a fairly stable year for the town's beaches," said Dr. Beth Chadon of Moffett and Nickel, who presented the survey results. Chadon reported a gain of nearly 70,000 cubic yards within the nourished oceanfront and roughly 263,000 cubic yards across the monitored oceanfront for the June 2024'June 2025 period.

The monitoring uses standard transects along the nourished oceanfront from Bonnet north to the town boundary and south to Oregon Inlet and measures shoreline change from the mean high water contour and volumetric change above specific elevation bands, Chadon said. She noted the survey period had fewer large wave events than typical and a shift in predominant wave direction to the east'southeast, which likely reduced seasonal erosion.

Chadon singled out differences by reach: most reaches showed accretion above the -14 foot contour, while dune volume (above +6) was negative in all reaches except Reach 2, with Reach 3 South and Reach 4 experiencing the largest dune losses. Compared with pre-nourishment (2019) conditions, Reach 1 and Reach 2 have gained sand while Reach 3 North, Reach 3 South and Reach 4 have lost sand; Reach 4 has lost about 56% of previously placed material, the presentation said.

On the town's master-plan triggers, Chadon said that overall the oceanfront remains above the master-plan volumetric triggers (the presentation noted a minimum profile volumetric trigger near 464 cubic yards per foot), and that the town still has protection against a 25-year storm, although individual transects in localized areas are at or below trigger levels and will continue to be monitored.

Chadon then outlined the planned beach nourishment procurement and schedule. The project would place sand across Reaches 1'4, include a 500-foot taper into National Park Service property on the south side (a special-use permit with the Park Service had been obtained), and calls for a base quantity of about 2.2 million cubic yards with two additive alternates of 100,000 cubic yards each. Bids were advertised on the town website and dredge-industry sites; written questions are allowed, bids are due Nov. 13 with an expected bid opening at 2 p.m., a board workshop to review bids is planned for December, an intent to award could be issued Jan. 7 and a notice to proceed could follow April 1. The town has received a 401 water-quality certification and a camera permit; an Army Corps of Engineers permit was still pending at the time of the presentation.

Commissioners asked about regional timing and technical uncertainty. One commissioner asked whether neighboring towns planning nourishment in 2027 would affect bids; Chadon said simultaneous projects can help contractors by spreading mobilization costs but results depend on plant availability and overall demand. When asked about offshore losses and longshore processes that move sand beyond the depth of closure, Chadon said numerical modeling could be considered but is complex and that an additional fall survey could help determine whether observed trends continue.

On where additive alternate sand might be placed, Chadon recommended prioritizing recreational beach widening in northern parts of town if protection needs do not demand otherwise, adding that final placement decisions would be made based on field conditions at construction time.

Next procedural steps are that bids are due Nov. 13, the board expects to review bids in a December workshop, and potential award and notice-to-proceed dates are Jan. 7 and April 1, respectively. A commissioner closed by thanking Dave Howick and the National Park Service for coordinating the taper into park property at the south end of town.

(Reporting based on an in-person presentation to the mayor and commissioners; no formal vote was taken during the presentation.)