"Beach Nourishment Might Buy Time on The NC Outer Banks"

"RALEIGH, N.C. -- Federal officials have approved the North Carolina Department of Transportation's plan to rebuild an eroded beach along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and a nearby wildlife refuge, to protect the Outer Banks highway.

Federal park and wildlife officials usually are cool to the idea of scooping up sand to rebuild eroded beaches along the Dare County Outer Banks, but they warmed up last year after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said it was an emergency.

The state Department of Transportation plans a beach nourishment project this summer to shore up a perennially washed-out section of N.C. 12 at the Hatteras Island village of Rodanthe, after winning cautious approval from the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."

Bruce Siceloff reports for the Raleigh News & Observer May 31, 2014.