County taking steps to dredge Rodanthe Harbor for emergency ferry route

In July, it was brought to the county’s attention that recent shoaling in Rodanthe Harbor had made the Rodanthe-Stumpy Point emergency ferry route unnavigable. As a result, the county is taking steps to clear the way for an upcoming dredging project.

The emergency ferry route was created in 2009 by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, which oversees the Ferry Division, to bypass N.C. Highway 12 on Pea Island. Ferry terminals were created in Rodanthe in 2001 and in Stumpy Point in 2002, and both were upgraded in 2013.

Emergency ferry service was implemented after Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, as well as in 2013 when the aged Bonner Bridge was closed for safety reasons.

Before the service was available, islanders could be cut off from the world for weeks, such as in November 2000 after a storm-tossed barge struck and severely damaged the Bonner Bridge.

At the July Dare County Waterwaters Commission meeting, it was reported that the ferry division was concerned that a small and shallow-shoaled area in the Rodanthe basin had created conditions that were too dangerous for ferry travel. Although the remainder of the federal channel in the emergency route is navigable, the lone shoaled spot in Rodanthe has rendered the route inaccessible.

The emergency ferry route has overlapping jurisdictional issues when it comes to the county, state, and federal governments, according to reporting from Catherine Kozak. The state is responsible for the basin and an estimated 1,200-foot approach channel in Stumpy Point Harbor, and the federal government is responsible for the rest of the channel in Stumpy Point, and all of the channel and the basin on the Rodanthe side. The county provides disposal sites for the dredged material, and pays a share of non-federal funds provided to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for dredging projects.

The Corps is investigating methods to have this federal channel dredged before peak hurricane season via a Corps’ dredge or Corps’ contracted pipeline dredge, but may be unable to dredge until a post-storm emergency declaration is issued, or until the 2024/2025 winter months.

Because of this uncertainty, Dare County has been working for the past several weeks to facilitate a more immediate dredging solution.

Dredging the small Rodanthe Harbor would be difficult for the county’s hopper dredge, Miss Katie, but the area could be dredged by a separate and smaller bucket-and-barge dredge operation.

“We have not yet entered into a contract with a dredging contractor, but we have reached out to contractors who confirmed they would be available to start immediately once permits are received,” stated Barton Grover, Dare County Grants & Waterways Administrator, in an email to the Island Free Press. “A contractor will be selected before permits are received.”

The dredging for Rodanthe Harbor requires a CAMA permit, and Dare County expects to receive the permit within 30 to 60 days.

An estimated 600 cubic yards of material needs to be dredged from a 700 ft. section of the channel, and there is already an existing disposal site adjacent to the channel for the material to be placed.

Once dredging officially begins, it is expected to be completed within 7 to 14 days.

As for funding, at the upcoming Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting on August 5, the Board will consider a Resolution to apply for Shallow Draft Navigation Cost Share Funds. This would provide a 75% match from the state for the estimated $140,000 cost of the dredging project, while Dare County would pony up the remaining 25%.

Depending mainly on the permitting process, it may still be some time before dredging will officially begin. However, the county’s recent efforts pave the way for a faster solution to ensure the Rodanthe-Stumpy Point emergency ferry channel is ready to use, if needed.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting will be held on Monday, August 5, at 9:00 a.m., and the meetings are available to watch live on Dare County’s YouTube channel and on Spectrum’s Channel 191 (Current TV.)

For more information on the Dare County Board of Commissioners monthly meetings, as well as info on how to make public comments during the beginning portion of the meetings, visit https://www.darenc.gov/departments/board-of-commissioners/meetings.