1/20/2012 -
Bodie Island Lighthouse Restoration Will Resume
From the National Park Service - Outer Banks Group
Superintendent Mike Murray announced this week that a $1.89 million contract has been awarded to resume restoration of the famed Bodie Island Lighthouse located near Oregon Inlet. The National Park Service (NPS) Denver Service Center has issued a notice to proceed with the award of contract to the prime contractor, United Builders Group, LLC from New Bern, North Carolina.
The previous restoration project contract was terminated in Spring 2011 after significant new structural integrity issues were found in many of the main support beams under the balcony. The additional repairs needed were too costly to finish in the original restoration project and therefore work ceased. The contractor demobilized and was off-site by April 20, 2011. NPS funding requests have since been approved to complete the restoration work in FY2012.
The new project is expected to begin in late February 2012 and be completed in October 2012. The work will include the following renovations:
- Restore deteriorated metal
- Restore components on the lantern level (support beams, masonry, railing/ladder)
- Replace galley cornice segments
- Paint interior and exterior masonry
- Replace windows and glass on lantern level
- Repair the Oil house marble floor and roof, install new windows
- Paint all newly installed metals/wood
- Install fire suppression system and rehabilitate electrical power
- Install stair strengtheners
Project update reports will be issued periodically. For more information, contact the National Park Service's Public Affairs Office at 252-473-2111 ext. 148.
11/11/11 - Relaxinn goes International
Relaxinn had guests from four different countries this week.
10/06/2011 Information on the Reopening of N.C. Highway 12
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has announced that N.C. Highway 12 will reopen no later than Tuesday, October 11.
Once Highway 12 is reopened by NCDOT, there will be no travel restrictions for any portion of Hatteras Island, including Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco, and Hatteras Village. With the reopening of Highway 12, residents and visitors will be permitted entry to the previously restricted villages of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo
9/18/2011 - Mysterious 'booming sounds' perplex scientists
Quakes? Meteors? Sand dunes? A host of explanations worldwide, but none proven
North Carolina booms - At RelaxInn we hear this several times a year -
Mysterious 'booming sounds' perplex scientists Quakes? Meteors? Sand dunes? A host of explanations worldwide, but none proven
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44550343/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/mysterious-booming-sounds-perplex-scientists/?gt1=43001
07/03/2011 - OBX Beaches top five in the world for tenth year
This was about 100 yards from Relaxinn
A mature female right whale washed up just south of Jennette’s pier on Sunday morning.
Believed to be the individual “Slash” as identified by unique markings, researchers have records for this animal indicating that she was as much as 39 years old and had at least 6 calves.
Responders to this stranding included the Outer Banks Marine Mammal Stranding Network (Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, Roanoke Island Aquarium, and Cape Hatteras National Seashore), UNC-Wilmington marine mammal response, the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, and Mystic Aquarium. The animal was measured, examined, and sampled for further research.
The right whale population in the northwestern Atlantic is thought to contain fewer than 400 individuals. For more information about this rare animal please visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/rightwhale_northatlantic.htm.
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — An anchor from what's believed to be the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard's flagship has been raised from the ocean floor off the North Carolina coast.
The artifact is the second-largest item at the shipwreck, outsized only by another anchor.
Researchers retrieved the anchor from the shipwreck about 20 feet under water and were bringing it to shore. The work to retrieve it began last week. The anchor is about 13 feet long and 8 feet across.
The recovery coincides with the release this month of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." The movie features both Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge.lackbeard news: