Town Will Install Warning Sign as Inlet Settles Into New Channel – Coastal Observer

Crews are moving an inlet in the Pawleys Island area. Why the $4M project is being completed.

The inlet relocation is part of the settlement of a lawsuit between the town of Pawleys Island and Prince George. Here’s a look at the project.

Town will install warning sign as inlet settles into new channel – Coastal Observer

The new inlet on the south end of Pawleys Island withstood its first test as a weekend storm coupled with a spring tide washed over the beach and creek. Pawleys Inlet was moved about half a mile north as part of a project to restore the beachfront at Prince George, which eroded as the inlet migrated south over the last six years. The new channel was cut a week before the storm. “We are already seeing a new recurved spit growing into the excavated channel and no evidence of the channel moving to the north as it adjusts,” Steven Traynum, president Coastal Science and Engineering, told the town of Pawleys Island in a message this week. His firm designed the project. Permits allow up to 300,000 cubic yards of sand to be moved to rebuild the beach and dunes at Prince George. Traynum said the project will shift 225,000 cubic yards and that about 90,000 yards had been moved so far. Work is expected to finish at Prince George early next month. The town helped fund the $4 million project along with state agencies and its contractors – including Coastal Science – for a beach renourishment project completed in 2020. Prince George property owners sued in 2022 claiming the inlet migration was the result of the renourishment project. A settlement in those suits earlier this year led to the funding and the federal and state permits for the inlet project. The new inlet is about 750 feet south of the parking lot on the south end of the island. “We did get a lot of erosion, as we did throughout the beach,” Town Council Member Mark Hawn said. “It seemed like the inlet itself was doing its job.” The town plans to erect a sign warning of rip currents around the inlet, similar to signs it put up last year on the north end following two drownings. The storm washed a smaller warning sign into the beach grass. “It’s unnerving to watch. The water’s moving through there fast. Everybody’s ignoring the signage,” Hawn said. “They’re a foot or two away and not paying attention.” People began exploring the north side of the new inlet as soon as it was cut, some looking for shells, some fishing and some just curious. “Lord almighty, that is so cool,” said Edward Richardson, who was among those just having a look after the water began flowing.  He grew up in Georgetown and now lives off Waverly Road. He has seen the inlet move over the years. “When daddy used to bring us, it was right up to the road,” Richardson said. He was among those who wondered how long the new inlet would stay in place. Although Prince George property owners received approval for a one-time relocation, the settlement agreement provides for the town to cooperate in keeping the inlet within a 750-foot wide corridor. That will require new permits. If the inlet moves north, the town will pay to move it south, Mayor Brian Henry said. If it moves south, Prince George owners will pay to move it north.