Town of Topsail Beach, North Carolina, has just reported a fatal accident involving beach nourishment pipeline.
According to the release, the Topsail Beach Police Department, Topsail Beach Fire Department, and Pender County EMS responded to an accident at the intersection of Drum Avenue and Ocean Boulevard yesterday at approximately 11:44 AM (local time).
The accident occurred while unloading pipeline to be used for the town’s channel dredging and beach nourishment project and resulted in a fatality.
The victim worked for a contracted trucking firm out of Texas. The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, the officials said.
The $24.6 million project awarded to Weeks Marine last October, often referred to as the Local Storm Damage Reduction Plan or SDR, includes dredging the New Topsail Inlet and the side channels in Banks Channel and is expected to place up to 2.2 million cubic yards of sand on the beach, including the development of a new dune.
The scheme is the continuation of the Town’s 30-Year Beach Management Plan adopted in 2011.