most cost-effective solution, to implement the new LED lights. The new LED light configuration is being assembled in New London CT, and is in the final stages of compliance testing. The new lights were installed and operational on Oak Island lighthouse in December 2020. The permanent LED lights will be brighter than the current ones due to the minimal Coast Guard light visibility requirements and will operate and rotate as the original lights did (a rotating structure with the appearance of 4 one second flashes followed by 6 seconds of blank). The new lights – 16 in all - are better protected from the elements and designed to be visible out to 20.5 nautical miles (almost 24 statute miles). Construction Built in 1957-58 by Brinkley, W.F. & Son Construction Co. located in Granite Quarry NC at a cost of $110,000, it was one of the last lighthouses constructed in the US. It rests on 24 pilings driven 67' deep to bedrock which are 10" round, filled with concrete and capped by a 30' wide by 3' deep octagonal concrete base. As for the structure itself, 142' of it is poured concrete, the top 52' of which is black, the middle 50' white, and the bottom 40' feet cement grey. The black and white colors are not painted on the structure, having instead been mixed into the concrete at the time the tower was constructed. On top of all of this sits an 11' tall aluminum and glass light enclosure. The inside of the tower has a uniform diameter of a little more than 16' 4", with the exterior concrete walls 8" thick. While the overall structure is 153' tall, it was sited on a small knoll, which has nautical charts showing the light as being 169' above sea level. Tours and accessibility The Oak Island Lighthouse grounds are open to the public year-round for viewing and picture taking, with 30 minute parking provided at the base of the tower from sunrise until sunset. A walkway to the beach provides a good vantage point for photos of the structure, and descriptive placards along the way describe the site history and resident wildlife/vegetation. The structure itself and the walkway are cared for and managed by a citizens group, Friends of Oak Island Lighthouse (FOIL). Up until the restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic, the interior of the lighthouse was open for visits