Hilton Head’s beach rebuild starts Wednesday

Each year, Hilton Head Island’s calm tides and cool waters attract millions of dollars in tourism. And each year, those same waters cost the island millions of dollars, sweeping at least 150,000 cubic yards of sand out to sea.

This week, likely Wednesday, work will begin on a $20.7 million project to restore much of what Hilton Head has lost since its last beach renourishment in 2007 — about 2.2 million cubic yards of sand along eight miles of shoreline.

It’s a rebuild that town officials and hospitality representatives had hoped would start earlier in the year instead of in June, the start of the island’s tourism season.

But inclement weather and a backup in the contractor’s schedule delayed the February start date. Town engineer Steve Liggett said contractors hope to begin Wednesday, although there is still some flexibility in the schedule.

Most hotels reached for comment this week said they’re not worried the project will stymie revenues, which are on track to beat last year’s record tourism season.

The most optimistic are those located along Hilton Head’s central shoreline, which won’t see any work until late August to October.

“I don’t doubt we may have another record year again,” said Jay Wiendl, general manager of the Sonesta Resort. “The way I look at it is, I can’t wait for our Visitor’s Convention Bureau to be able to say, ‘Come see our new beautiful beaches.’ ”

Hilton Head saw 2.65 million visitors in 2015, up from nearly 2.62 million the year before.

There were other indicators of a record tourism year in 2015:

▪ Hotel occupancy rates were up 1.6 percent from 2014 and by a total of 4.6 percent from 2013, according to the University of South Carolina Beaufort Lowcountry and Resort Islands Tourism Institute.

▪ The hotels’ average daily rate also rose by 4.9 percent and by 12.5 percent from 2013.

▪ Together, those figures gave the island a 17.6 percent jump in revenue per available room between 2013 and 2015.

Those gains translated into big money for the town. Last year, Hilton Head had a record-breaking haul of nearly $3.1 million from its local accommodations tax, which is money collected on overnight lodging from visitors. That’s up from about $2.8 million the year before. As of April, the town had already received nearly $2.1 million, up from $1.9 million at the same point last year.

In March, some business owners expressed concerns that the project could hurt tourism. Leaders of Sea Pines Resort, which declined to comment this week, said that it would face a slew of cancellations if the town moved forward with the project in the summer rather than delaying the work until next winter.

Ariana Pernice, vice president of the visitor and convention bureau of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, said at the time that the project would be a “pretty substantial hit,” as the chamber would need to spend five to 10 times more to change someone’s mind about a negative experience as it would to attract a new visitor.

While only 1,000 feet of beach is restricted at a time, and the project moves about 300 feet each day, it will be moving through the heel of the island in June and July and through Sea Pines’ South Beach from mid-July to mid-August.

Rob Jordan, of the island’s biggest employer, SERG Restaurant Group, said he thinks the town was smart to rework the project schedule to avoid the central shoreline during the summer months. And while SERG does not operate any restaurants on the beach, Jordan doubted the island would see fewer visitors because of the months of loud, noisy work.

“I think (visitors will) just move 50 yards down the beach and enjoy the day,” Jordan said. “(The rebuild) is important. It’s our lifeblood. We’ll get through it.”

The five-month-long project involves submerging pipelines into underwater sandbars, or shoals, to pump the material onto the beach. Trucks then spread the sand to recreate the shape of the shoreline.

To date, the town has spent about $50 million to renourish and protect its beaches through regular rebuilds. This year’s is especially timely, as severe storms last October washed away about 150,000 cubic yards of sand at once.

The lost sediment alone is worth about $1.7 million, and the town hopes to be reimbursed for up to $6-7 million for the total cost of replacing the sand. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is processing Hilton Head’s claim that the damage was associated with a declared disaster, Hurricane Joaquin, said town engineer Scott Liggett.

Surveyors have been using high-tech equipment to scan the dredging area for any sub-par sand, such as overly muddy material, or obstacles, including old anchors or shrimp trawler doors and chains.

“We’re obviously not trying to dredge up an old ship wreck or something like that,” Liggett said.

The project will begin at Mitchelville Beach Park, and the town will post daily updates about the location of the work on its beach renourishment website.

Those who want to walk or bicycle on the beach can access temporary walkways past the dunes once they reach a worksite, Liggett said.

More likely to be impacted than tourists are sea turtles that are in the middle of their nesting and hatching season.

Volunteers with the Hilton Head Island Sea Turtle Protection Project have been on the beach daily since mobilization for the project began and, as of Thursday, have moved about 70 nests out of about 130 nests on the island’s beaches, according to Liggett.

“They’ve been up to their eyeballs with turtle-nesting activities,” he said. “It’s a very active and demanding time for them.”

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This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Hilton Head’s beach rebuild starts Wednesday."