CoastalResilience

Step 5: Move Vulnerable Public Structures

There are a number of significant public structures that are threatened, in the immediate term, by sea level rise and more intense coastal storms. The regulatory agencies overseeing these structures have taken a variety of approaches to protecting them, including building revetments and other walls to try to keep the ocean at bay. However, these approaches impede natural coastal processes, thereby damaging coastal ecosystems. They also sometimes prove ineffective. Accordingly, the federal government, states and local municipalities should adopt a policy of realignment of public structures, whenever possible. This policy both sends an appropriate message to private landowners regarding the feasibility of retreat from the coast, and provides the most effective protection of our important public landmarks.

Example:

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States. Originally, the lighthouse sat 1,500 feet from the shoreline. But because of storms and erosion, at the time of the move, the lighthouse stood only a few feet from the beach. Something had to be done or it would soon topple into the sea. The National Park Service, which manages the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, on which the lighthouse sits, proposed moving the lighthouse and its outbuildings 2900 feet in an effort to place it as far away from the sea as it had been in 1870. After more than a decade of heated debate about this approach, the National Research Council strongly recommended the lighthouse be moved. The move was first proposed in 1987, but it was not until 1999 that the plans were put into action.

The moving of the lighthouse began on June 5, 1999. A huge crowd showed up to watch the 23-day move. Steel pillars were used to support the tall structure as hydraulic jacks slowly lifted the 4800 ton lighthouse. Steel rails and special rollers were utilized to inch the lighthouse along to its new location. The lighthouse move was a slow and tedious process. It was moved about 25-100 feet a day. The move was a success, and the public can still visit and climb the lighthouse – in its new location – today.