Protecting America's Lighthouse

Known as 'America's Lighthouse,' the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is located on Cape Point near Buxton, North Carolina. The 207 foot black and white spiral striped tower was built in 1870 to replace a forty-eight year old lighthouse that became damaged. The landmark which is considered the most recognized and admired lighthouse has protected sailors while fighting its own battle with erosion.

The North Carolina coast is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic because since 1526, over two thousand ships have wrecked near the barrier islands. Shifting underwater sand bars and German U-Boats during World War One and World War Two are among the reasons why so many ships have sunk off the Diamond Shoals.

In the nineteenth century, commercial shipping grew as America developed. There is a legend that Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of Treasury rounded the southern tip of Hatteras in a storm when he was a child. He promised that if he was ever able, there would be a lighthouse built so that others would be safe.

Geologically, the island where Cape Hatteras is located is unstable. Although eighty-five percent of the island is undeveloped, a significant portion of the maritime forest and vegetation was lost due to commercial shipbuilding prior to 1800.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built on a "floating foundation" of pine timbers in fresh water on compacted sand and then a solid foundation of brick and granite. The building is protected as long as the sand and fresh water around the original foundation is in place. Erosion allows salt water to compromises the foundation which causes the wood timbers to rot.

According to Anne Douglas article "Moving the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse" on www.pagewise.com , the structure was originally built 1500 feet from the ocean and by 1919, was only three hundred feet from the shore. Erosion had claimed another two hundred feet by 1935. During the next fifty years, efforts to save the lighthouse included construction barrier dune, sand replenishment projects and the creation of an artificial sandbar.

These efforts prevented further erosion, but did not increase the distance between the lighthouse and shoreline. By 1988, the National Park Service with assistance from the National Academy of Sciences explored several protection projects and ultimately recommended moving the lighthouse to its current location.

Over the next several years, efforts continued to reinforce the lighthouse and the surrounding shoreline. In 1997, a report from North Carolina State University that endorsed the 1988 report was delivered to the North Carolina State Senate. Although two million dollars was appropriated to begin the planning for this project, the 1998 federal budget did not include the twelve million dollars that was needed to move the lighthouse.

In 1998, the contract to move the lighthouse was awarded to International Chimney Corporation of Buffalo, NY. Engineers from ICC began planning the move and the funding for the project was included in the 1999 federal budget.

In early 1999, after preparing the structures and area for the move, International Chimney Corporation moved the oil cisterns and three structures to the new location. On June 17, 1999, the lighthouse was lifted from its previous foundation and over the next twenty three days, the 4800 ton structure was moved 2900 feet to the new location.

In early July 1999, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse was lowered to a brick and concrete foundation with no impacts to the building's structure. The project was completed when the lighthouse was rededicated in a relighting ceremony on November 13, 1999.

The current Cape Hatteras lighthouse remains operational and its short flash can be seen for twenty nautical miles in clear conditions. Visitors can climb the 268 steps from mid-April through Columbus Day and the park around the structure is open year round.