USGS


Cape Hatteras lighthouse

photo of lighthouse

The Cape Hatteras lighthouse stands behind a seawall of sandbags that temporarily stabilized the eroding shore; wave action destroyed the seawall soon after it was built. The erosion of North Carolina's chain of barrier islands has prompted a National Research Council committee to recommend that this historic lighthouse be relocated.





Coasts in Crisis
Maintained by J.M. Watsonhttps://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1075/lighthouse.htmlLast updated 9.11.97