THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 22, 1995 TAG: 9511220505
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BUXTON LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
With $1.7 million in federal funding, the National Park Service could help the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse hold its ground for 25 more years, a recent report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says.
The beach around the lighthouse has been eroding steadily for decades. Each year, an average of 20 feet of sand washes away from around the 208-foot-high tower. When the tower was built in 1870, about 2,000 feet of shoreline buffered the beacon's base from the Atlantic.
Today, a skinny strip of sand - less than 175 feet wide - separates the lighthouse from the ocean.
Corps of Engineers officials recommended that the structure be moved a half-mile inland by 1994, before it topples into the tides.
But National Park Service officials say there's still no money for the $12 million project.
So they're trying to come up with interim measures instead, to protect the nation's tallest brick beacon.
They considered pumping sand onto the beach in front of the lighthouse. They also studied building a bulkhead around its octagonal base. But the best bet, engineers said, is to construct a fourth steel and concrete wall in the ocean in front of the lighthouse - perpendicular to the shoreline, parallel to three existing ``groins.''
``In its present location, the lighthouse is in danger of being overcome by a significant storm,'' Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent Russell Berry said Tuesday from his Outer Banks office. ``Three groins on the north side of the structure protect the tower now. With a fourth groin farther south, the sand would fill in there and build the beach in front of the lighthouse back up.
``That would give us time to get the engineering studies - and federal funding - to move that lighthouse to a safer location.''
In a half-inch-thick draft report released late last month, the Corps of Engineers said building an 800-foot-long groin about 650 feet south of the three existing ones would add about 130 feet of beach in front of the lighthouse - allowing an estimated 10 acres of sand to accrete.
National Park Service officials requested money for the groin in their 1996 budget request, Berry said. If funds come through, construction could begin as early as the spring of 1997. The project would take about eight months to complete.
``Construction of the fourth groin would in essence shift the current erosion problem area from the lighthouse southward beyond the new structure,'' said the Corps of Engineers report. ``This would create a wider, stable beach both in front of the lighthouse as well as along its vulnerable south flank.''
In 1970, the U.S. Navy erected three concrete and steel structures perpendicular to the shore in front of the lighthouse to save a Buxton military housing complex from encroaching erosion. These ``groins'' trap sand as it slides down the beach, building up the shoreline between the hardened walls. Groins also, however, cause thebeach south of them to erode more quickly.
Shorelines up to a mile south of the lighthouse would begin washing away more rapidly if a fourth groin were built, the report says. But land along that area also is owned by the National Park Service. And it doesn't protect a historical structure like the lighthouse.
``Basically, the fourth groin would be the same size and materials as what you see out there now,'' Berry said. ``There's an estimated 25- to 30-year life for these groins. Once the lighthouse is moved, we'll remove this fourth groin.''
After reviewing the report - which includes an environmental impact assessment - Park Service officials decided to implement plans to build the fourth groin, Berry said. The next step is to secure the proper permits from North Carolina's coastal regulators. Under the Coastal Area Management Act, hardened structures cannot be built along the state's beaches.
The three existing groins were constructed before CAMA regulations went into effect.
The proposed fourth groin, Berry said, would have to be an exception to that law.
``They'll have to weigh concerns about protecting a significant historical landmark against concerns about what we're doing to the beach,'' Berry said. ``It's a given deal that we're going to proceed with this project. But we have to convince other agencies to participate, too.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic with color photo of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
by CNB