The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Baltimore District has awarded a US$3.17 million contract to Michigan-based White Lake Dock and Dredge for maintenance dredging and southern jetty rehabilitation for the Fishing Creek Federal navigation channel in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland.
The project, in coordination with the Town of Chesapeake Beach, consists of dredging approximately 10,000 cubic yards (7,645 cubic metres) of material from the federal channel, as well as an additional allowance of up to 15,000 cubic yards (11,468 cubic metres) in an access channel near the south jetty to accommodate the contractor's equipment. All dredged material will be removed via hydraulic cutterhead dredger and transported via pipeline to an existing nearby upland placement site.
The USACE last dredged the Fishing Creek federal channel in 2013. The Town of Chesapeake Beach completed partial maintenance dredging in 2020.
Additionally, the southern jetty at Fishing Creek will be rehabilitated to a height of six feet (1.82 metres) mean lower low water (MLLW) using a 2.8-ton (2.5-tonne) capstone. Jetty rehabilitation will be segmented into sections with a total length of approximately 1,000 feet (304 metres).
Rehabilitation of the south jetty will reduce overtopping and ensure sediment does not pass through the structure.
Crews are scheduled to mobilise this fall. The USACE anticipates the work to take approximately 180 days to complete.
This project is part of the Baltimore District's Navigation program, which includes operation and maintenance of more than 290 miles (466 kilometres) of federal navigable channels within the Susquehanna River watershed. This work includes dredging, conducting underwater surveys, and applying a fleet of debris removal vessels to clear floating hazards out of the federal channels in the Baltimore Harbor and Potomac and Anacostia Rivers.