From WSJ Staff Reports
The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division has resumed service on Pamlico Sound between Cedar Island, Swan Quarter and Ocracoke.
Service reopened with a two-boat, alternate schedule while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to mitigate shoaling issues in Bigfoot Slough.
The ferry service was suspended on April 7 due to shoaling issues.
Shoaling occurs when sand and sediment fill into a ferry channel, making water depths too shallow and the channel too narrow for safe operation of the ferry system’s vessels.
The Army Corps of Engineers’ Dredge Murden and Dredge Merritt will continue working in the Bigfoot Slough channel throughout the week to clear the shoaling, but dredging operations are dependent on weather and tides. Once the dredging work is complete and water depths and channel widths return to acceptable levels, the Ferry Division will resume its regular, three-boat schedule on both routes.
