For visitors only 



Expensive engineering 

 may save slipping fort 



(Continued from page 1) 



Until then man had only added to the erosion 

 problems at the historic site. Some contend that the 

 taking of coquina rock from the beach for road con- 

 struction in 1926 compounded the difficulties. 



The rubble revetment is now in poor condition. 

 Many people are no longer content to sit silently by 

 while erosion continues its inevitable work. The U.S. 

 Army Corps of Engineers intends to do something 

 about that. Its recommended plan for erosion control 

 of the area has been authorized by Congress. The plan 

 includes building a stone revetment which would 

 stretch along the entire bluff fronting the Fort Fisher 

 historic site— a distance of about 2000 feet. Beach fill 

 would be applied to 8000 feet of the shore, making the 

 beach an average of 80 feet wide. Seven groins, vary- 

 ing from 260 to 430 feet in length, are called for. 



Like most serious erosion control plans, this one 

 carries a big price tag. The current estimate for the 

 major construction is $7.4 million. Federal funds will 

 cover 70 percent of those expenses. The state will pick 

 up the rest of the bill. And that won't be the end of 

 the expenses. Study manager Lim Vallianos, with the 

 Wilmington Office of the Corps of Engineers, es- 

 timates that the state's annual fees will average $90,- 

 000 for beach replenishment and maintenance of 

 construction. 



At any rate, the state probably won't have to dip 

 into its pocketbook any time soon. The Corps of 

 Engineers has scheduled two-year design work on the 

 project to begin in 1979. Construction will take 

 another two years. 



Vallianos doesn't see the Fort Fisher plan as just 

 another in a long series of futile efforts to stop 

 nature's erosion. He contends that the project will of- 

 fer a permanent solution. "It will maintain itself as 

 long as the program of nourishment of the compart- 

 ments between groins is implemented," he said. 

 Without the plan, Vallianos predicts that U.S. 

 Highway 421 and the entire Fort Fisher site will be 

 eroded away by about 1998. 



Remains of a former U.S. Highway 421, washed 

 out by erosion. 



Nature's erosion and man's construction have not 

 completely destroyed the ocean-side Fort Fisher. 

 Seven mounds that were part of the original land face 

 of the fort are still intact. The mounds are laced with 

 trails and surrounded by a reconstructed palisades 

 fence. 



More than 400,000 people visit the nearby Ft. 

 Fisher Visitor Center/Museum annually. Built in 

 1965, the center houses exhibits, including artifacts 

 from the site and restored items from sunken 

 blockade runners. The museum is open free to the 

 public Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 

 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 



Fort Fisher is located 14 miles south of Wilmington 

 on U.S. 421. It can also be reached by toll ferry from 

 Southport. 



Across the street from the center, there is a picnic 

 area in the small maritime forest located just behind 

 the beach. The beach, with its outcropping of coquina 

 rocks, is also open to the public. During low tide, the 

 rock outcropping is a favorite spot for sports fisher- 

 men. A monument to the Confederate dead overlooks 

 the ocean from the adjoining Battle Acre. Part of the 

 fort which once stood on that spot has been eroded. 



The North Carolina Underwater Preservation 

 Laboratory, also on the grounds, was built im- 

 mediately after the wreck of the Modern Greece was 

 salvaged in 1952. The ship sank a half-mile north of 

 Fort Fisher in 1862. A group of Navy divers brought 

 up about 11,000 artifacts. Many of them, in addition 

 to artifacts from other North Carolina shipwrecks, 

 are on display in the visitor center/museum. The 

 preservation lab also offers a field school in the sum- 

 mer for college students. The curriculum includes the 

 basic techniques of underwater archaeology. The lab 

 is not open to the public, but special tours can be 

 arranged for school groups. 



The Fort Fisher area is famous for its shipwrecks, 

 many of them casualties of Civil War confrontations. 

 Diving on the wrecks is permitted, but anyone plan- 

 ning to remove materials from a wreck must have 

 prior permission from the preservation lab. 



The National Park Service has named the Fort 

 Fisher area a national historic landmark, and further 

 recreational development of the area is planned. The 

 state of North Carolina has purchased nearby lands 

 which are intended for public recreation. About two 

 miles south of Fort Fisher is the Marine Resources 

 Center/Fort Fisher, an educational facility which is 

 also open to the public. A toll ferry just south of the 

 center connects the barrier island to Southport. 



