The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District, has awarded a US$39.9 million contract to Seacoast Marine Construction of Long Island, New York, for restoration work at Barren Island, part of the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration project in Dorchester County, Maryland.
The contract award marks the start of the second phase of Mid-Bay restoration work on Barren Island including construction of two bird islands adjacent to the existing island and connected to the breakwater; construction of stone sill structures; design and installation of spillway structures; and excavation of material from the Honga and Tar Bay federal navigation channels and placement within a contained area adjacent to Barren Island.
Approximately 335,000 cubic yards (256,000 cubic metres) of material consisting of mud, sand, silt, shell and combinations thereof will be removed via hydraulic dredger from the Honga River channel to its authorized depth of seven feet (2.1 metres) and a width ranging from 60 to 140 feet (18 to 43 metres).
The Mid-Bay project, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Port Administration, includes restoration of 2,072 acres (838.5 hectares) of lost remote island habitat on James Island and 72 acres (29 hectares) of remote island habitat on Barren Island, using material dredged from the Port of Baltimore approach channels and shallow draught federal navigation channels, respectively.
Habitat may include mudflats, low marsh, high marsh, islands, ponds, channels, and upland areas.
Barren Island is anticipated to begin acceptance of Honga River dredged material in late 2025 or early 2026, with James Island accepting dredged material around 2030, after sill and dike construction efforts to hold the material are completed at each location. The Honga River channel was last dredged by the USACE in 2009.
The USACE received more than US$80 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2022 to complete the design and preconstruction activities for the Barren Island component of this project, to include the first construction contract award. The Mid-Bay project is anticipated to be completed in 2067 – providing more than 30 years of capacity to place nearly 95 million cubic yards (73 million cubic metres) of dredged material.