CHARLESTON, S.C. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District and the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board signed an agreement that will allow work to begin on the Morris Island Lighthouse at a ceremony today. The ceremony, which was hosted by Save the Light, was held at the Folly Beach City Hall October 13.
“The Corps of Engineers is excited to be able to move forward on this project and to continue the great partnership we have with state and local agencies,” said Lt. Col. Ed Fleming, the Charleston District Commander.
Speakers at the ceremony included Fleming, Frank Fusco, the Executive Director of the South Carolina Budget Control Board, Carl Beckman, Jr. Mayor of Folly Beach, Richard Beck, Chairman of Save the Light, Lindsay Graham, Senator for South Carolina, and Henry Brown, Congressman for the First District, South Carolina.
The Corps received final approval of the Morris Island Lighthouse Section 103 Project Cooperative Agreement (PCA) from the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works office on 28 September 2006.
“We will award a construction contract early in 2007 and construction should be completed before the heart of hurricane season,” Fleming said.
The selected plan for the construction project will be a single cell pile coffer ring capped with concrete and surrounded by a rock scour apron. The concrete cap will have a finished appearance that will simulate brick through the use of a mixture and a formwork pattern. Use of the sheet pile also affords the sponsor a means of conducting additional foundational work to the lighthouse.
The cost share on this project has been adjusted to include the impact on the lighthouse foundation caused by Federal navigation works. The cost share is determined to be 87.5 % Federal and 12.5% non-Federal.
Additional work will be done to restore the Lighthouse. That work will be funded by private sources.