Barnegat Bay Dredging Plan on Display

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, is seeking public comment for a 10-year maintenance request by the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Office of Maritime Resources to dredge nine channels in the bay waters off Long Beach Island (LBI).

Dredging is proposed for the Beach Haven State Channel Complex: Southwick Channel, Bay Harbor Channel, Eastern Channel, Shelter Harbor Channel, Beach Haven Condos Channel, Morrison’s Channel, Liberty Thorofare Channel, Buoy 77 Channel and Penna’s Channel, according to a public notice posted by the Philadelphia District.

The proposed project is for the restoration and maintenance of safe navigational depths for vessels between Long Beach Island and the bay, the public notice reads in part.

Approximately 26,747 yards of sand and silt is expected to be dredged and transported, via a floating and submerged pipeline, to the Parker Island Confined Disposal Facility, a 4.3-acre site located in the bay west of Beach Haven, according to the public notice.

Public comments are due by January 8, 2020.

Each maintenance dredge project is expected to last approximately 12 weeks, including mobilizing/demobilizing, dredging and CDF activities, the public notice states. Two or three dredging projects are anticipated to be performed over the next 10 years.