Hilton Head Beach Renourishment Update

In order to maintain the island’s pristine shoreline and keep it in the best possible condition, the Town of Hilton Head Island utilizes beach restoration as part of its long-term commitment to preserving our beaches. The beauty and splendor of our beaches are vital to the Island’s economy but, more than that, they are vital to our way of life.  Hilton Head is a “transgressive” relic coastal barrier and the shoreline experiences a massive and continual movement of sand—a naturally-occurring phenomenon.  Widening the beach provides storm protection and maintains a recreational berm for beach activities.  Sand placement along portions of previously restores shoreline in Port Royal Plantation and the area just north of Fish Haul Creek will also be included in this project. The $20.7 million project will commence in mid-June and will be completed in mid-to-late-October.

The 2016 renourishment project will include the following:

Placement of up to 60,000 CY of sand along 2,400 feet of the Port Royal Sound in the vicinity of Fish Haul Park (Mid-June).

Placement of 0.5 million CY of sand in northern Port Royal Plantation (Late June, Mid-July).

Placement of about 0.3 million CY of sand in southern Sea Pines near South Beach (Late July, Mid-August).

Placement of about 1.3 million cubic yards of sand along 5.5 miles of the Atlantic Ocean from south of Coligny Circle to The Folly inlet at Singleton Beach (Late August, September, October).

A sand search takes place whereby engineers locate a grade of sand that is approximately the same size, color and texture as the existing beach sand.  This nourishment sand will be excavated by hydraulic dredge and pumped through an extensive pipeline to the active site.  The active site at any given point will be a 1,000-foot section of beach.  Beach access at active sites will be temporarily closed and re-opened as the project continues.

Sand placement activities will commence June 15, 2015 along the Port Royal Sound shoreline.  From there, in very late July, the project will move from Port Royal to South Beach in Sea Pines Resort, just east of the Tower Beach Club.

The project is funded primarily by tourism via the local 2% Beach Preservation Fee. The 2016 beach renourishment project will be the fourth replenishment, the first three successfully implemented in 1990, 1997 and 2006.