According to Star News Online, the shipping channel near the mouth of the Cape Fear River will be dredged later this year.
Under an Army Corps of Engineers sand management plan, the inner bar area is required to be dredged every two years as part of an overall maintenance schedule that keeps the channel at a depth of 44 feet.
Chris McCall , the island’s shoreline protection coordinator said: “We knew we were going to have to go for a gap, but then the gap got doubled because of a lack of funding, and we’ve been in a holding pattern, but right now, the corps is telling us it will be dredged.”
“Last year, we got $12.4 million for maintenance dredging, and we had a need of more like $18-24 million, ” said Bob Keistler , the corps’ navigation project manager. “So we talked to the pilots and asked, ‘From start to finish, what are the most critical areas for speed bumps?’ For the last two cycles, Bald Head was not on that list.”
[mappress]
Dredging Today Staff, March 23, 2012; Image: usace