Hunting Island’s anticipated beach project is finished. Here is the work by the numbers
Almost five years after king tides and heavy rains began a long period of Hunting Island State Park’s beaches being torn away, a massive facelift has been completed.
State officials and local tourism representatives celebrated the $17-million beach restoration work during a ceremony Monday. State Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, and state Representatives Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, and Michael Rivers, D-Beaufort, were on hand, as were state parks director Paul McCormack and park manager J.W. Weatherford.
A team of volunteers from the Coastal Conservation League planted the final batch of sea oats meant to help anchor a new dune system.
Here’s what the project covered, according to a release from the volunteer group Friends of Hunting Island:
- New sand was pumped along 2 miles of beach and the dunes shaped to replace ones wiped out by Hurricane Matthew and Tropical Storm Irma.
- New groins extending into the ocean were built to help trap and maintain sand to protect the historic lighthouse from erosion and existing groins received new concrete caps.
- 100,000 plantings of sea oats went in to the ground to fortify the dunes.
- 9,000 feet of fencing was installed and park staff added another 3,000 feet of rope barriers to protect dunes and mark entrances to the beach.
The 1.2 million cubic feet of sand planned for the project was double the amount from an earlier proposal because of the extensive damage from Hurricane Matthew.
State officials and environment groups settled on a final permit that would avoid conducting the work during turtle nesting season and limit the number of groins.
The state park also recently completed an overhaul of its visitor center. New flooring, interactive exhibits and a Hunting Island mural were among the changes.
Friends of Hunting Island hopes to eventually add a virtual lighthouse to the center for those who can’t climb the steps to the one that has long stood watch over the barrier island’s north beach.
