City Council awarded a $1,096,362 contract to fix flooding in Pirate Cove off Greenville Loop Road. The half-mile project should finish in fall 2027.

Wilmington has hired a local contractor to rebuild the failing drainage system in the Pirate Cove neighborhood, where streets and yards flood in heavy rain.

City Council voted unanimously Oct. 6 to award a $1,096,362 construction contract to East Coast Contracting Inc. of Wilmington. That is the council agenda item for the contract. The vote is recorded in the draft minutes of the Oct. 6 meeting, which council is set to approve Tuesday.

Where the work is

The project runs from Greenville Loop Road along parts of West Blackbeard Road and Buccaneer Road, according to the city’s agenda item. Project manager Rob Baker of the city’s Design and Construction Department told council the corridor is about half a mile long.

The work includes:

  • replacing undersized and failing pipes
  • stabilizing heavily eroded channels
  • improving the open channel and the piped system in part of the subdivision
  • creating access so city crews can maintain the drainage way

The city has already bought permanent drainage easements and temporary construction easements in the area, the agenda item says.

Why it floods

Mayor Bill Saffo asked whether most of the water comes off Masonboro Sound Road. Baker said heavy development on the other side of that road sends a good share of it. Aaron Beckner, assistant director of Design and Construction, said runoff also comes from Masonboro Loop Road and from neighborhoods built before today’s stormwater rules, the draft minutes show.

The cost

Six companies bid when the city opened bids Aug. 13. East Coast Contracting’s base bid was the lowest, at $1,096,362. The next lowest was TA Loving Company of Goldsboro at $1,465,650, according to the certified bid tabulation. The design engineer, McGill, had estimated the base work at $2,132,000.

Bar chart of base bids for the Pirate Cove drainage project: engineer's estimate $2,132,000; East Coast Contracting $1,096,362; TA Loving Company $1,465,650; Heath Grading and Utility $1,593,559; Burnette Enterprises $1,934,963; T&H Construction $2,189,125; Trader Construction $3,122,957.
Base bids for the Pirate Cove drainage project. Chart by Wilmington Daily; data City of Wilmington certified bid tabulation.
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Baker told council the construction budget is about $1.4 million. The money comes from the city’s Stormwater Capital Projects fund.

Some water and sewer lines under the streets are in the way of the new storm pipes. The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority will repay the city up to $257,582 to move them, under an agreement council also approved Oct. 6.

When

Baker said the work should take about eight months and finish in fall 2027. The city has not published a start date.

What it means for you

  • If you live on or near West Blackbeard Road, Buccaneer Road or that end of Greenville Loop Road, expect construction crews on your street once work starts. We will list any closures on our road closures page.
  • Water and sewer lines will be moved as part of the job, paid for by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority.
  • Questions about the project go to the city’s Design and Construction Department, at the number on the agenda item: 910-473-5129.