Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Ask Dave a weather question

Dave Thurlow, Host

 
Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory. Today on the Weather Notebook, commentator David Clark from Georgia, tells of a meeting with local cotton farmers to determine their needs for the upcoming harvest:

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory and this is The Weather Notebook. It sat in the same spot for 128 years. It guided thousands of sailors with its steady beacon. But the 200 foot, 3000 tons, lighthouse at Cape Hatteras needs to give up its birthplace and retreat from the sea.

When the lighthouse was built, it sat a quarter-mile inland from the Atlantic shore. By last fall, waves were lapping only 120 feet away, close enough for a major hurricane to threaten the structure. As the sea level continues to rise, and the Barrier Island erodes, the future of the Hatteras lighthouse was clearly in jeopardy. A preservation group lobbied to keep the lighthouse where it was. They argued that moving it would be too expensive and it might fall apart. A federal study looked at the idea of building a seawall around the lighthouse, but over the years it would have become an island unto itself, difficult to reach.

So this year the lighthouse is being moved a third of a mile inland. The lighthouse will be cut from it's granite base, lifted on a platform of steel beams and slowly pushed on rollers 2900 feet to the southwest. The 10-million-dollar project will be finished in June of 2000, when the lighthouse will again greet visitors from its new, safer vantage point. However, it's expected that the shoreline may again catch up to the lighthouse in another 100 years..

Today's writer is Bob Henson. Our show is underwritten by Subaru, the beauty of all wheel drive, with major support provided by the National Science Foundation.

Dick Holmberg

Can this man save the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse without moving it?

Dick Holmberg, developed erosion control technology that has been utilized successfully on Lake Michigan and other Great Lakes.