Figure 8 Island
Figure Eight Island is an island along the outer banks of North Carolina, and like many of the surrounding barrier islands, it faces constant threats of erosion taking the land right out from under the million-dollar homes that cover this island. On this island there is currently a legal battle over the construction of a terminal groin at the mouth of an adjacent inlet. This hard stabilization structure would starve the beaches down shore of it while only protecting those that are closer to it. The battle comes in because the groin would protect a handful of properties while causing severe beach loss at others. Another obstacle to the terminal groin project is the ban on hard armoring of coastlines in North Carolina, however, there have been a few structures that have been approved in the past at other islands along the coast.
Alternative to the terminal groin, soft stabilization methods are what is currently being utilized in the form of large sandbags protecting the houses along the beachfront. Although it may cause the beaches in front of them to shrink, it has far fewer adverse effects than that of a potential terminal groin. This demonstrates the strengths of softer methods of stabilization. With softer methods there is less harm to the environment and natural processes, like the movement of sand, and there is less chance that the negative effects of the shoreline armoring will be projected onto another property down shore. While these sandbags may not be a long-term solution, they do provide time for other plans to be made, such as moving structures farther back from the coastline.
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