Congressman Fred Upton announced on Tuesday that the Army Corps of Engineers has been able to come up with funds to dredge the Saint Joseph harbor. Large commercial ships have been unable to reach any of the docks there recently, as the build up of sand has decreased water depths by too much.
Saint Joseph Harbormaster Larry LaValley says that the funding announcment on Tuesday was welcomed news.
He says that, if all goes well, the estimate is that the outer harbor will be dredged around January third. The next step will be to look at the 2012 shipping season. LaValley doesn’t know if more dredging will have to be done then, but says that it’ll be a daunting task for Upton to come up with even more funding, if that turns out to be necessary.
[mappress]
Dredging Today Staff, December 21, 2011;