Based on data recorded by CERC's wave gage located at Wrightsville 

 Beach, the annual significant wave height is 0.76 meter (2.5 feet). 

 Wave observations along Wrightsville Beach indicate that 98 percent of 

 the observed wave energy approaches from the eastern and southeastern 

 quadrants. The dominant direction of littoral transport is from north 

 to south; however, reversals in transport direction along the beaches do 

 occur. The mean and spring tidal ranges are 1.2 and 1.4 meters, 

 respectively; the difference between MSL and MLW is 0.57 meter. 



Wrightsville Beach is about 6.75 kilometers in length, with an 

 average dune height of 4 meters above MSL. The beach faces approxi- 

 mately east-southeast, has an average beach slope from MHW to the 

 -6.0 meter (MSL) depth contour of 1 on 37.2, and contains beach sedi- 

 ments with a mean grain size of 0.27 millimeter. The ocean shoreline of 

 Wrightsville Beach was modified in 1965 by the construction of a hurri- 

 cane and storm protection project. Initially, 2,288,000 cubic meters of 

 fill material was placed along 5,100 meters of beach north of Masonboro 

 Inlet with artificial dune heights constructed to an approximate eleva- 

 tion of +2.5 meters (MSL) for storm protection purposes. The northern 

 transition section included the closure of Moore Inlet, which had 

 previously separated Wrightsville Beach from Shell Island. In spring 



1966, an additional 244,000 cubic meters of fill material from the 

 Masonboro Inlet was placed between Johnnie Mercer's Pier and Crystal 

 Pier. In October 1966, a final deposition of 32,100 cubic meters of 

 material from the estuarial area behind Shell Island was placed along 

 the northernmost 610 meters within the town limits of the Wrightsville 

 Beach project shoreline. 



In 1970, a renourishment of the central shoreline of Wrightsville 

 Beach was required. A total of 1,053,600 cubic meters of fill material 

 obtained from a shoal in the Banks Channel and the sound area behind 

 Shell Island was placed on the beach, beginning at a point approximately 

 1.83 kilometers north of Masonboro Inlet and extending to the northern 

 city limits of Wrightsville Beach. Figure 2 is an aerial photo strip 

 map showing the Wrightsville Beach shoreline. 



Masonboro Island is bordered by Masonboro Inlet to the north, and by 

 Carolina Beach Inlet (opened in 1952 by local interest groups) to the 

 south (Figs. 2 and 3). It is a very narrow, low-lying uninhabited 

 island approximately 12.5 kilometers long with a shoreline orientation 

 from north-northeast to south-southwest. The natural dune heights along 

 the island range from 3 to 10 meters (MSL), and the median grain size is 

 0.34 millimeter. The average beach slope is approximately 1 on 59. 



Carolina Beach is located just- south of the Carolina Beach Inlet and 

 extends about 4.3 kilometers southward to Kure Beach (Figs. 3 and 4). 

 The northern end of Carolina Beach has experienced high erosion rates 

 since the opening of Carolina Beach Inlet (Vallianos, 1970), which have 

 affected the efficiency of a hurricane and shore protection project 

 constructed in 1965. The 4.27 kilometers of shoreline fronting the town 

 of Carolina Beach was nourished with about 2,014,000 cubic meters of 

 fill material obtained from the Carolina Beach harbor. However, by 



1967, erosion of the northern 1.2 kilometers of the project beach was so 

 severe that emergency action was required. Approximately 314,000 cubic 



