Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

It seems to me that if you chose to see only one lighthouse in the world, it should be this one. It is a beautiful structure. These pictures are from early spring 2009. Later on in the year when I returned to the Outer Banks for the beach wedding in October, I climbed to the top of the tower. The view is really spectacular.

What makes it even a little more interesting is that where I saw the lighthouse and its Double Keepers' Quarters (in the background of the above picture) is not the same place these structures were located in 1999. As anyone could imagine, moving one 4,830 ton structure even 5 feet could be a daunting task. This lighthouse and its adjoining structures were moved 2,900 feet to the southwest of its original location to prevent it from the effects of coastal erosion.

The Outer Banks are and have been gradually moving westward due to storm driven tides from the Atlantic Ocean picking up sand on the ocean side and depositing it farther west with each stroke. The current Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was completed in 1870 and at that time it was 1,500 feet from the ocean but by 1970 it was only 120 feet from the ocean.

Efforts to protect the lighthouse really began in the 1930s but it wasn't until 1980 (the year I was born) that the National Park Service was able to begin to develop options to provide a permanent solution. Eventually, studies were done and relocation was the best choice. Then the relocation option was debated for years, no really, years.

Finally, Congress appropriated funding to complete the relocation project beginning fiscal year 1998. At some point, the project went through the bidding process which probably also took years. The contract was awarded to International Chimney Corp. of Buffalo, New York assisted by other subcontractors. The tower was lifted from its original location on June 17, 1999 (the summer after I graduated from high school). Made it down a special moving path to be set on its new location on July 9, 1999. So for those of you around 100 years from now, it takes 24 days to move a lighthouse 2,900 feet and about 20 years of preparation.

All of the other structures were moved prior to the tower in the spring of 1999. So the entire Cape Hatteras Lighthouse complex now sits 1,600 feet from the ocean and continues to protect ships from the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

 Information referenced, see -
Link:  http://www.nps.gov/caha/historyculture/movingthelighthouse.htm