Massive Operation to Slow Dune Migration Underway in North Carolina’s Outer Banks

North Carolina park officials on the Outer Banks are working to slow the pace of a massive sand dune that’s slowly being pushed each year by winds.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that the dune known as Jockey’s Ridge typically moves about 6 feet per year. But this year it’s shifted about 30 feet in some places, encroaching on some homes.

Joy Greenwood is superintendent of Jockey’s Ridge State Park. She said the reason the dune has moved more this year has to do with Hurricanes Florence and Michael as well as other storms.

Dump trucks are moving tons of sand from the south side of the dune back to the north side. The $1 million job will take about 14,000 truckloads to complete.