Reprinted from the Carteret County News-Times

Work is under way on a $1.7 million shoreline restoration project at Carteret Community College.

“TA Loving has begun staging and removing the old rubble from the shoreline,” College Vice President of Operations and Facilities Steve Sparks said during the Oct. 13 meeting of the college’s board of trustees. “The seal locations have been staked and a construction site plan has been submitted. Work will begin initially on the west end of the shoreline.”

The project includes restoration of 1,400 linear feet of the campus’ shoreline that was damaged by Hurricane Florence in September 2018. That is half the length of the college’s total shoreline.

Along with that work, one pier and two observation decks will be built. The decks will be constructed on the west and east ends of the campus. The pier, which will be located mid-campus, will include a floating dock and kayak launch.

The living shoreline at college will consist of a series of granite sills with landward salt marsh grass plantings, similar to construction methods used in front of the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology building on the west end of the campus.

The college partnered with the North Carolina Coastal Federation to submit a proposal to build a living shoreline along Bogue Sound property to reduce further erosion, while also protecting and restoring valuable salt marsh habitat.

The college received $812,555 of a $2.7 million grant award from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration/National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund to put toward the project. The remainder of the grant will provide another large-scale living shoreline along Highway 24 in between Swansboro and Cedar Point that will be done in partnership with the federation and the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The remainder of the funds for the the college shoreline project comes from Federal Emergency Management Agency funds and a special allocation from the North Carolina Community College System hurricane relief funds.

Mr. Sparks said the project is scheduled to be finished by the end of March. The federation is expected to start seeding marsh grass plants in mid-March.

This story is provided courtesy of the Carteret County News-Times, a tri-weekly newspaper published in Morehead City. Coastal Review Online partners with the News-Times to provide our readers with news of the North Carolina coast.

Reprinted with Permission from Carteret County News-Times

MOREHEAD CITY — Carteret Community College has received a $395,749 Golden Leaf Foundation Hurricane Florence recovery grant for shoreline repair and mitigation.

The college’s finance officer Steve Davis shared the news with trustees Tuesday during a meeting in the McGee Building boardroom.

“During Hurricane Florence (in September 2018) we suffered shoreline damages close to buildings, and we want to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Davis said.

The college sustained more than $1 million in damage during Florence. With four of the college’s buildings located directly on the north bank of Bogue Sound, shoreline damage is one of the biggest concerns.

“We are still feeling the impact of Hurricane Florence one year later,” CCC President John Hauser said in a press release about the award. “Our location along Bogue Sound is a huge part of the college’s identity, and protecting our shoreline is crucial. We are very thankful for the Golden Leaf grant and look forward to repairing and improving our shoreline.”

Engineering estimates put the cost of repairing the shoreline at $908,000. Davis said in addition to Golden Leaf funds, the college will use $300,000 in state Hurricane Florence recovery funds, $208,000 in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds and $4,400 in institutional funds.

The college is working with Arendell Engineers to develop a plan to protect the shoreline and college facilities. Improvements will include removing any remaining rip-rap, rocks or other debris, grading and installation of an interlocking vinyl-sheet pile bulkhead. It will be capped with concrete barriers and filter fabric and layered with stone. Eroding dirt will be replaced.

Additionally, the college is working with the North Carolina Coastal Federation to secure a North Carolina Wildlife Marine Fisheries grant for a living shoreline. That project will include installation of granite sills about 30 feet offshore to help with wave activity.

Final plans are expected to be submitted for review by the State Construction Office in November, with approval expected 30 days later. The college plans to advertise and evaluate bids, with construction beginning in March or April.

“It will take about six months to complete the work, so we’re probably looking at a September time frame for completion,” Director of Plant Operations Steve Sparks said.

Of particular concern is a 273-foot section that contains a bulkhead and seawall in front of the Bryant Student Center and Crystal Coast Civic Center. That section was damaged by 3 feet of storm surge, which caused a concrete sidewalk to collapse and rip-rap to be destroyed.

While that section is of major concern, about 1,400 feet of shoreline from the Howard Building to where the college’s property ends at the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries building also sustained damage.

This story is provided courtesy of the Carteret County News-Times, a tri-weekly newspaper published in Morehead City. Coastal Review Online partners with the News-Times to provide our readers with news of the North Carolina coast.

Reprinted from the Carteret County News-Times

MOREHEAD CITY — Construction has begun on a $200,000 shellfish mariculture demonstration center at Carteret Community College that will expand research and training opportunities.

CCC aquaculture department chairman David Cerino said Tuesday the N.C. Shellfish Mariculture Demonstration Center will “provide shore-side support for the adjacent lease in Bogue Sound where we will conduct training and applied research for the shellfish aquaculture industry in collaboration with North Carolina Sea Grant.”

The approximate 2,500-square-foot structure is being built behind the Howard Aquaculture Building at CCC.

Funding for the project comes from a $50,000 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sea Grant Aquaculture Extension and Technology Transfer grant, as well as a $150,000 appropriation from the North Carolina General Assembly. Funds provide for construction and equipping of the center.

Cerino said he’s excited to see construction well underway and expects the facility to open this spring. LA Downey & Son of Morehead City is in charge of construction.

The original completion date was October 2018, but Hurricane Florence caused the project to be moved back, according to Cerino.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries approved a 2.57-acre research demonstration lease last summer as part of the process to create the center for Carteret Community College and North Carolina State University students and researchers.

Mariculture, a specialized branch of aquaculture, involves the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in the open ocean or sound, an enclosed section of the ocean or in tanks, ponds or waterways filled with seawater.

The site will provide hands-on training and research activities to advance sustainable shellfish mariculture, according to Cerino.

He said it will not only benefit students, but help develop businesses for those interested in the industry.

The area starts just east of the Howard Aquaculture Building and extends to the west side of the N.C. State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technology building.

Cerino and North Carolina Sea Grant marine aquaculture specialist Chuck Weirich worked with University of North Carolina Wilmington to secure a $300,000 grant in 2015 from NOAA, with $50,000 of the money earmarked for the Bogue Sound shellfish lease expansion project.

The NOAA grant provides funds to establish shellfish mariculture demonstration centers at UNCW and the site shared by N.C. State University CMAST and CCC.

The grant also funds work that involves comparison of oyster gear types and different native oyster strains at industry partner sites around the state and evaluation of sunray Venus clams as a means to diversify the industry.

Cerino said the area would also be used to do research on other types of clams and bay scallops.

The lease allows for non-commercial production of shellfish within the proposed area.

The three main goals of the site are:

• To enhance the opportunities for the aquaculture curriculum courses currently offered at Carteret Community College.
• To provide a site for the development of the N.C. Shellfish Farming Academy, which will provide training for new and existing shellfish growers through the CCC Corporate and Community Education Division.
• To serve as a site to conduct experiments to develop best management practices for sustainable industry development.

As for the new structure, it’s “basically a covered pavilion with two main areas. One will be for the filtered seawater systems and the other is a work area for shellfish nursery systems and for sorting and processing shellfish,” he said, adding there’s also a storage area for equipment.

This story is provided courtesy of the Carteret County News-Times, a tri-weekly newspaper published in Morehead City. Coastal Review Online partners with the News-Times to provide our readers with news of the North Carolina coast.