Beach Re-nourishment
     In order to maintain the beachfront and minimize property loss Holden Beach engages in an active and repetitive series of beach re-nourishment projects, as do most other North Carolina coastal communities.
     Between 1973 and 1987 there have been seven federally funded projects to replace beach sand lost to erosion. Additionally there have been several locally funded projects including a $1.2 million dune-replacement project finished in 1998.   This provided an eight foot high artificial dune stretches from the beach's east end westward - about 4.5 miles. In 1999 this dune was for the most part destroyed during hurricane Floyd in 1999.
     A major problem with beach re-nourishment has been the lack of sufficient an adequate sand resource off shore of the beach. This has resulted in the need for either truck or barge transport of replacement sand at additional cost. But erosion continues, and town leaders are trying to come up with ways to fund future dune repair and beach nourishment. These sites can be viewed by traveling west on Ocean Boulevard.
     Potential sources of sand for future re-nourishment projects include material from dredging activity at both Lockwood Folly inlet and the Wilmington harbor realignment project.