The Dare County Board of Commissioners on Monday awarded the bid for the 2022 Avon and Buxton beach nourishment projects to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. in the amount of $25,870,000.
Dare County received bid packages from three companies for the Avon and Buxton beach nourishment project: Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co., Manson Construction and Weeks Marine.
The bids were opened on November 17, at which time it was determined that the low bidder was Great Lakes Dock and Dredge Co, which most recently conducted the beach widening projects from Duck to Nags Head four years ago.
According to a county press release, the $25,870,000 bid price includes the cost of mobilization and demobilization, dredging, placement, grading and environmental protection that is required under federal and state permits.
Bidding for sand fencing will be done later this month, with FEMA to pay for Buxton’s portion of that particular project.
Funding for the renourishment will be provided by a $1,557,607 grant from the North Carolina Coastal Storm Damage Mitigation Fund; $6,315,435 in restoration funds, 75 percent of which will be paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with the remaining 25 percent paid for by the state; as well as $21,684,008 from the Dare County Beach Nourishment Fund.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co.’s bid is $3.6 million lower than CSE and FEMA’s joint estimate and the amount in Dare County’s beach nourishment model, and it will also result in a total savings of $2.9 million for Dare County.
The beach nourishment project was bid with a start date of May 1, 2022, and an end date of September 30, 2022, and consists of placing a total of 2.2 cubic yards of sand along the shoreline.
One million cubic yards will be placed in the Avon nourishment project from near Due East Road to the Ramp 38/Haulover area, and 1.2 million cubic yards for the Buxton renourishment project from Ramp 38/Haulover to the old Coast Guard Base site.
In addition to awarding the bid to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co., the Dare County Board of Commissioners also authorized Dare County Manager Bobby Outten to proceed with a contract for the county’s debt related to the project, subject to the Local Government Commission’s approval on February 1, 2022.
Weeks Marine submitted a bid of $27,932,050 for the sand pumping projects that are anticipated to take place next spring and summer off Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. An announcement about the bids for the South Nags Head project are pending.
Exact dates for next year’s nourishment projects have not been set, so it is still too early to know when workers and equipment will be along a specific section of Outer Banks beach.
More information about beach nourishment on the Outer Banks can be found at MoreBeachToLove.com