The US Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Philadelphia District has awarded a US$12.9 million contract to Seaward Marine Corporation of Norfolk, Virginia, to conduct maintenance dredging of portions of the federal channel of the Delaware River between the cities of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania and Trenton in New Jersey.
The work will involve dredging 425,000 cubic yards (324,935 cubic metres) of sediment from south of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge all the way up to and including the Fairless Hills Turning Basin. Sediment will be mechanically dredged, placed in barges, and ultimately moved to Dredged Material Placement Facilities along the river.
The USACE expects dredging to begin in early August 2023 and scheduled to be completed prior to March 15, 2024.
The work is part of annual maintenance dredging of the Delaware River, Philadelphia to Trenton project. The project provides for a 40-foot (12-metre) channel from Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia to the upper end of Newbold Island, New Jersey, thence to various depths from 25 feet (7.62 metres) to 12 feet (3.65 metres) upstream to the Penn Central Railroad Bridge at Trenton.
Maintaining the federal channel enables maritime commerce along the Delaware River.