There were no early locks and dams below Fayetteville, North Carolina, but three modern ones provide slackwater navigation for over one hundred (100) miles of the lower Cape Fear River to Wilmington. These modern facilities are - William O. Huske Lock and Dam, Lock and Dam #2, and Lock and Dam #1, with a total length of 111 river miles.

The William O. Huske Lock and Dam is located at Tolars Landing, roughly seventeen (17) miles south-southeast of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The project has an authorized depth of eight (8) feet, but during Spring and Summer it may be less. This channel runs from Navassa (Brunswick County) to near Fayetteville (Cumberland County). Between Wilmington and Navassa the channel is twenty-five (25) feet deep. This important waterway was constructed in 1935 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The lock chamber is forty (40) feet wide and three hundred (300) feet long, with a total lift capability of nine (9) feet.

Lock and Dam #2 was constructed in 1917 at what was once known as Browns Landing. The lock is 40 feet by 200 feet. Under normal operation, the upper pool is at elevation +23 feet and the lower pool is at elevation +14 feet. Lock and Dam #2 is located approximately 2 miles southeast of Elizabethtown, NC. Lock and Dam 2 is accessible to public use via SR 1703 from North Carolina State Highway 87.

Lock and Dam #1 was originally constructed in 1915 and modified in 1934 to increase the lift by three feet to a total of eleven feet. The lock is 40 feet by 200 feet. Lock and Dam #1 is located at Kings Bluff approximately 39 miles above Wilmington. Lock and Dam 1 is accessible to public use via SR 1734 Lock #1 Rd. from North Carolina State Highway 87.