Built in 1958 and standing 169 feet high, the
Oak Island lighthouse as with all modern lighthouses, has deviated from the traditional
lighthouse look but serves the same function. The construction method used a round slip
form. It consisted of a round steel tube inside another larger one. The space between the
two tubes made up the thickness of the tower. Concrete reinforced with iron rods was
poured into the form, allowed to dry and then the form was slipped upward making itself
ready for the next pour. The process was continued all the way to the top of the
lighthouse. The walls are only eight inches thick the entire way to the top, as opposed to
older brick lighthouses that could have walls as much as five thick at the base with the
thickness tapering towards the top. Another interesting feature of the Oak Island
lighthouse is that colored concrete was used in the process so the three different colored
bands never need painting. The foundation for the light reaches down seventy feet to
bedrock and the lighthouse is designed to sway three feet in winds of one hundred miles an
hour.Lightweight aluminum was used for parts of the lantern room including the floor
and a helicopter was used to set the lantern room in place. The optics at the Oak Island
lighthouse consists of a cluster of four powerful revolving lights. They are so powerful
on its highest setting used during conditions of fog or bad weather, the beam of light can
be powered up to reach an incredible 2,500000 candle power ranking it the most powerful
lighthouse in the nation. It’s enough to scorch the skin of anyone standing in front
of the lens. Protective clothing has to be used while working in the room.
The lighthouse isn’t open to the public but visitors are welcome to take pictures
from the outside and take a tour of the beautifully kept Coast Guard Station that is
adjacent to the tower. In back of the lighthouse there is a repair and service area for
buoys and channel markers and the docks where the Coast Guard moors their rescue boats.
There were several other lights at Oak Island in the middle 1800’s similar to the
one at Price’s Creek but they were used to guide ships up the Cape Fear River to the
port of Wilmington and not as an identification for passing ships at sea. None of those
are left standing except the one at Price’s Creek just above nearby Southport.
