Navigation dredging has begun in the Metedeconk River/Kettle Creek Complex in Ocean County in the US state of New Jersey.
The dredging work is part of a US$16 million project to continue returning State channels in Barnegat Bay to a state of good repair.
This project includes dredging shoals in the following channels to their authorised depth: Upper Metedeconk River Channel (1.82 metres); Green Cove Channel (1.52 metres); Beaver Dam Creek North and South (1.52 metres); Bay Head Channel, Winter Yacht Basin, and Kettle Creek-Sailors Quay (1.52 metres), and Kettle Creek (1.52 metres) with 0.3 metres of allowable over-dredge, respectively.
These channels were severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, creating shoals and limiting navigation.
The project is anticipated to last through to December 31, 2019.
H&L Contracting will be mechanically dredging the channels. An estimated 137,000 cubic metres will be removed and taken by barge to the placement location known as Dredge Hole 18 (DH18).
DH18 is off the coast of Mantoloking's Bayside Park. The final material placed on top will include material with the highest sand content in an effort to restore the area and allow for recruitment of submerged aquatic vegetation.