Earlier this week, Friends of Hunting Island State Park, Inc. hosted a celebration to mark completion of the $17 million Hunting Island beach renourishment project.
The ribbon cutting was held Monday, June 22, in the presence of SC State Representative Michael Rivers from District 121, SC State Representative Shannon Erickson from District 124, and SC State Senator Chip Campsen, District 43.
Also on hand were South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism Director, Paul McCormack; Regional Chief, Coastal Region Jerry Ives; State Park Marketing Coordinator, Jordan Cutler; and Hunting Island State Park Manager JW Weatherford.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company (GLDD) started the work on this project in early February by bringing in their cutterhead dredge Alaska.
During the works, the contractor pumped over 1,200,000 cubic yards (cy) of sand onto two miles of the barrier island’s beach that were eroded after major storm events.
The project also included construction of two new groins and concrete capping of old groins (performed by S. J. Hamill); 9,000 feet of sand fencing (installed by Patterson Construction); 100,000 plantings of dune vegetation by Earth Balance; and over 3,000 feet of rope fencing installed to protect dunes and delineate entrances to the beach by Hunting Island rangers and staff.