What time does it open?

The hardest schedule on the corridor for a day boater: TWO openings in twelve hours, at 10am and 2pm, and nothing else until six in the evening. Miss the 2pm and you are waiting four hours. Commercial and government traffic gets it on signal all day; you do not.

• Annual races — no opening required 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on the second Saturday of July.
• Annual races — no opening required 12 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. on the last Saturday of October, OR the first or second Saturday of November. The regulation does not say which.Date not fixed by the regulation — check the Local Notice to Mariners.
• Annual races — no opening required 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the first or second Sunday of November. The regulation does not say which.Date not fixed by the regulation — check the Local Notice to Mariners.

Schedule · 33 CFR 117.829(a): “(1) The draw will be closed to pleasure craft from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. when the draw will open for all waiting vessels. (2) The draw will open on signal for Government and commercial vessels at all times. (3) The draw will open for all vessels on signal from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.” (eCFR, current as of 2026-08-01.)

Clearance · “U.S. Route 117 highway bridge over Northeast Cape Fear River 0.6 mile above its mouth has a bascule span with a clearance of 40 feet. VHF-FM channels 16 and 13 are monitored at the bridge.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 5, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water. — the Coast Pilot names this bridge by its route number and puts it 0.6 mile above the mouth while the CFR calls it the Isabel S. Holmes Bridge at mile 1.0. Coast Pilot runs about half a mile lower than the CFR on this river throughout (it puts the Hilton railroad bridge at “about 1 mile” where the CFR says 1.5), so these are the same bascule.

THE NORTHWEST DRAW ONLY IS USED — do not line up on the other one. This bridge sits inside Camp Lejeune: 33 CFR 334.440(e) makes the waterway from mile 235.1 to 240.7 a prohibited and danger area where you may transit without stopping except in an extreme emergency, and 33 CFR 165.514 puts a safety zone from 235.2 to 245.2. Live fire closes it; the weekly Local Notice to Mariners is the only warning you get.

Schedule · 33 CFR 117.821(a)(1): “Onslow Beach Swing Bridge, mile 240.7, at Cap Lejeune, NC, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., the draw need only open on the hour and half hour.” 33 CFR 117.821, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Albermarle Sound to Sunset Beach (eCFR, current as of 2026-08-01; base citation CGD05-97-072, 63 FR 9419, Feb. 25, 1998; renumbered by 91 FR 3031, Jan. 26, 2026).

Clearance · “A highway bridge at Mile 240.7, (locally known as Onslow Beach bridge), has a swing span with a clearance of 12 feet; the northwest draw only is used.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 12, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

Private bridge serving the island. Twenty feet closed, so almost everything waits. Hold station clear of the span — the current sets you toward it while you wait.

Schedule · 33 CFR 117.821(a)(2): “Figure Eight Swing Bridge, mile 278.1, at Scotts Hill, NC, the draw need only open on the hour and half hour.” Note what this paragraph does NOT say: unlike Onslow Beach and Wrightsville, it carries no time-of-day limit, so the half-hourly restriction runs around the clock. 33 CFR 117.821, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Albermarle Sound to Sunset Beach (eCFR, current as of 2026-08-01; base citation CGD05-97-072, 63 FR 9419, Feb. 25, 1998; renumbered by 91 FR 3031, Jan. 26, 2026).

Clearance · “The Figure Eight Island highway swing bridge … with a clearance of 20 feet crosses the waterway at Mile 278.1. The bridgetender can be contacted on VHF-FM channels 13 and 16.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 12, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water. — CAUTION: this Coast Pilot sentence also carries the parenthetical “(locally known as Surf City bridge)”, which is wrong; the Figure Eight bridge is at Scotts Hill, eighteen miles from Surf City. The clearance and the mile are the Coast Pilot's, the correction is ours.

Hourly only, 7am to 7pm, and this is the bridge that decides a Saturday. Arrive at 10:20 and you sit until 11:00 in a current that will not let you sit still. Twenty feet at the centre of the span, less at the edges.

• Annual races — no opening required 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on the second Saturday of July.
• Annual races — no opening required 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the third and fourth Saturdays of September.
• Annual races — no opening required 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the last Saturday of October, OR the first or second Saturday of November. The regulation does not say which.Date not fixed by the regulation — check the Local Notice to Mariners.

Schedule · 33 CFR 117.821(a)(3): “S.R. 74 Bridge, mile 283.1, at Wrightsville Beach, NC, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., the draw need only open on the hour…” Until 26 January 2026 this was paragraph (a)(4); it moved up when the Surf City paragraph was removed. 33 CFR 117.821, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Albermarle Sound to Sunset Beach (eCFR, current as of 2026-08-01; base citation CGD05-97-072, 63 FR 9419, Feb. 25, 1998; renumbered by 91 FR 3031, Jan. 26, 2026).

Clearance · “U.S. Route 74-76 highway bridge over the waterway at Wrightsville, Mile 283.1, has a bascule span with a clearance of 20 feet at the center… The bridgetender monitors VHF-FM channel 16 and works on channel 13; call sign, KU-6043. Overhead power and TV cables at the bridge have a least clearance of 78 feet.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 12, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

IT IS NOT A FIXED BRIDGE, whatever it looks like from the road. It is a vertical lift: 65 ft down, 135 ft up, and it opens on signal. Note the two mile references disagree because they are measured differently — the CFR says Cape Fear River mile 26.8, Coast Pilot says about 23.5 miles above the mouth.

• Annual races — no opening required 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on the second Saturday of July.
• Annual races — no opening required 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the first or second Sunday of November. The regulation does not say which.Date not fixed by the regulation — check the Local Notice to Mariners.

Schedule · 33 CFR 117.822 Cape Fear River restricts this bridge ONLY for the two race periods listed; outside them the 33 CFR 117.5 default applies and the draw opens promptly and fully on signal. Full text: “The draw of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, mile 26.8, at Wilmington need not open for the passage of vessels from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on the second Saturday of July of every year, and from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the first or second Sunday of November of every year to accommodate annual races.” [USCG-2012-0193, 77 FR 50378, Aug. 21, 2012] (eCFR, current as of 2026-08-01.)

Clearance · “U.S. Route 74/76 highway lift bridge with a clearance of 65 feet down and 135 feet up crosses Cape Fear River at Wilmington, about 23.5 miles above the mouth. The bridgetender monitors VHF-FM channel 16 and works on channel 13; telephone 910–251–5773.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 5, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

Normally sitting open. Four feet when it is down, so if it is down you wait — but never more than ten minutes by regulation. Red flashing lights mean it is moving; green means the span is fully open and you may pass.

Schedule · 33 CFR 117.829(b): the draw is remotely operated from the Navassa Railroad Bridge at Cape Fear River mile 34.0, “shall be left in the open position to vessels and will only be closed for the passage of trains”, and “any delay in opening of the draw shall not exceed ten minutes except as provided in 117.31(b)”. (eCFR, current as of 2026-08-01.)

Clearance · “The Hilton railroad bridge, about 1 mile above the mouth, has a bascule span with a clearance of 4 feet.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 5, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

Fixed, but the current is the point: Coast Pilot gives 1.0 kt ebb and 1.2 kt flood through the cut. The 68 ft power cables just west of it are the lowest overhead crossing on the whole waterway.

Schedule · No schedule: fixed bridge. No section of 33 CFR part 117 covers it.

Clearance · “U.S. Route 421 highway bridge over Snows Cut at Mile 295.7 has a fixed span with a clearance of 65 feet. Overhead power cables 0.1 mile west of the bridge have a clearance of 68 feet.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 12, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

Note the mile: the CFR paragraph said 260.7 and Coast Pilot puts the new fixed span at 260.9. The channel narrows underneath and the current sets you sideways — line up early. Any guide printed before 2019 has you waiting on a swing bridge that no longer exists.

Schedule · NO SCHEDULE — THIS BRIDGE IS FIXED. The high-rise opened to traffic on 4 December 2018 (NCDOT), replacing the 1955 swing bridge. The old regulation, 33 CFR 117.821(a)(2) — “S.R. 50 Bridge, mile 260.7, at Surf City, NC, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., the draw need only open on the hour” — stayed on the books until it was removed on 26 January 2026 by 91 FR 3031 (USCG-2025-1113, doc 2026-01400), which gives the reason as the bridge having been “converted to or replaced with a fixed bridge”.

Clearance · “State Routes 50-210 highway bridge at Mile 260.9, has a fixed span with a clearance of 66 feet. The overhead power cable at the bridge has a clearance of 81 feet.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 12, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

SIXTY-FOUR FEET. This is the lowest fixed span between Southport and Cape Lookout — lower than the 65 ft everybody assumes the ICW gives you, and lower than the 66 ft at Surf City. If anything on this corridor stops a tall boat, it is this bridge.

Schedule · No schedule: fixed bridge. No section of 33 CFR part 117 covers it.

Clearance · “At Mile 252.3, a fixed highway bridge with a clearance of 64 feet crosses the waterway. An overhead power cable with a clearance of 85 feet is close southwestward of the bridge.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 12, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

The way onto Emerald Isle. Fixed, 65 ft, nothing to wait for.

Schedule · No schedule: fixed bridge. No section of 33 CFR part 117 covers it.

Clearance · “A fixed highway bridge with a clearance of 65 feet crosses the waterway at Mile 226.0.” NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 12, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

Coast Pilot puts a caution on this one and it is not boilerplate: running with a fair tide or in windy weather, the current under the span sets you. A power cable 100 yards west has 49 ft over the side channel and 91 ft over the main.

Schedule · No schedule: fixed bridge. No section of 33 CFR part 117 covers it.

Clearance · Fixed highway bridge over Bogue Sound at ICW mile 206.7, clearance 65 ft. NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 12, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

This one is a legal curiosity worth knowing: the regulation says it need not open at all. Four feet closed. The 65 ft US 70 highway span beside it is the one you go under.

Schedule · 33 CFR 117.825 Newport River: “The draw of the Atlantic and East Carolina Railway bridge, mile 13.0 at Newport, need not be opened for the passage of vessels.” (eCFR, current as of 2026-08-01.)

Clearance · Railroad bascule span, clearance 4 ft, adjacent to the US 70 fixed highway span of 65 ft at ICW mile 203.8. NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 12, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.

There is no longer any drawbridge regulation anywhere at Beaufort. The Grayden Paul bascule that used to sit here has been physically removed — Coast Pilot 4 chapter 5 says so in those words. Every printed guide older than 2026 still prints its schedule.

Schedule · No schedule: fixed bridge. 33 CFR 117.823 (Gallants Channel) governed this crossing until it was REMOVED on 26 January 2026 by 91 FR 3031 (USCG-2025-1113, doc 2026-01400) as an obsolete regulation for a bridge converted to a fixed structure.

Clearance · Vertical clearance 65 ft. NOAA Coast Pilot 4, chapter 5, edition of 16 AUG 2026. Clearances are referenced to mean high water.