What Is Beach Renourishment?

Beach renourishment (also called beach nourishment) is the process of pumping sand from offshore onto an eroded beach to rebuild its width and elevation. On the Grand Strand, a dredge vessel collects sand from approved offshore borrow areas, mixes it with seawater, and pumps the slurry through a submerged pipeline onto the beach. Bulldozers then grade the new sand to the engineered profile.

Why Myrtle Beach Needs It

Hurricane Ian (2022) and Hurricane Debby (2024) stripped large volumes of sand from Grand Strand beaches. A wider, higher beach is the area’s first line of defense against storm surge — it absorbs wave energy before it reaches dunes, boardwalks, and oceanfront property. The last full renourishment of Myrtle Beach was in 2018, so the 2025–2026 project is both storm repair and routine maintenance of an engineered coastline.

The 2025–2026 Project by the Numbers

• $72 million, fully federally funded (except the locally funded Arcadian Shores segment)
• ~2 million cubic yards of sand — about 200,000 dump-truck loads
• 26 miles of coastline, from North Myrtle Beach to Pawleys Island
• Up to 500 feet of beach restored per day, 24/7 operations
• Contractor: Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District

What It Means for Your Beach Day

Very little, most of the time. Only about 1,000 feet of shoreline is closed around the active work zone, for two to three days per section. The rest of the beach stays open. The freshly placed sand is darker and coarser at first — it bleaches and softens within a few months of sun and surf. Use the live construction tracker to see where crews are working today, and the 2026 schedule to plan around the work.

Environmental Safeguards

The project includes daily monitoring for migratory shorebirds and sea turtles. Nests are relocated when necessary, and construction pauses if sea turtles are present in the work area.