What’s going on with the barge in North Myrtle Beach? Their project supervisor explains.

A few weeks ago, people on social media were marveling at why a large barge was parked off of Cherry Grove Pier?

Today, the same questions seem to be floating around.

So, what is with that barge? And what exactly is it for?

According to a statement from the City of North Myrtle Beach, it’s part of a larger construction project.

“The City of North Myrtle Beach is in the process of inspecting and cleaning our ocean outfalls,” the statement said. “While inspecting and cleaning, if deficiencies are found, they are repaired immediately by a diver.”

These inspections and cleanings happen approximately every five years, according to North Myrtle Beach’s Streets and Drainage Superintendent Johnny Bruton.

On July 4, crews began at 6th Avenue South and remained in the same place until July 17.

The next day, on July 18, the Jack-Up Barge was relocated to Main Street, where they are currently wrapping up inspections.

The barges people can see from the beach are used by the divers, he said. There are currently six ocean outfalls in place in the city.

The outfalls take storm water out 1200 feet into the ocean so that it can disperse further away from where swimmers are, according to Bruton.

So far, he said all of the inspections went well and they’re still on schedule to be done in about three weeks.

“They have not found any significant problems, just cosmetic issues,” he said.

When divers are looking at the drains underwater, Bruton said they’re specifically looking for that there’s capacity at the top, no debris blocking the outflow and no obstructions.

“Once that is achieved, and any sentiment that has collected over time is cleaned, then they thoroughly inspect the pipe looking for any deficiencies or defects that would compromise the integrity of the pipe,” he said.

The main example of debris they see is sand.

As of Tuesday morning, Bruton said there haven’t been any major defects reported at the Main Street location.

Future locations for the barge include 21st Avenue South, 39th Avenue South and 45th Avenue South, with each inspection taking approximately one week, weather depending.

Bruton said this process isn’t a state requirement, but instead regular maintenance that he and his team do every five years in order to make sure that the storm drains are still operational.

One factor that influences their decision is storms.

“We’ve had some pretty major storms come through, and we’ve lost a lot of shoreline and dunes,” he said. “And that sand ends up somewhere, and a lot of times it ends up in the pipe.”

The cost of the project varies based on how much sentiment divers find in the pipes and if they find any problems they need to fix, he explained.

“We generally start looking at six hundred or seven hundred thousand dollars,” Bruton said. “But there’s no way that we can really put a price on it because its very dependent on the time and the amount of debris or any deficiencies that’s found.”