The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District has amended its proposal to conduct maintenance dredging of rock and hard packed sand from portions of the Pawcatuck River, Little Narragansett Bay, and Watch Hill Cove Federal Navigation Project (FNP) in Westerly, Rhode Island, and Stonington, Conn.
The Corps issued a 30-day public notice on August 24, 2015 proposing the work. This amendment is being issued to expand the window in which the work will be completed.
The section of the 10-foot-deep MLLW by 100-foot wide entrance channel of Little Narragansett Bay FNP near Fishers Island Sound extending to an area west of Wequetequock Cove was dredged during November and December 2014 with a cutterhead pipeline dredge, but the dredge could not remove hard packed sand and rocks which are still limiting the channel depth. Approximately 61,900 cubic yards of sand were dredged and placed on Sandy Point.
The proposed work involves maintenance dredging of up to 2,600 cubic yards of hard packed sand and approximately 750 to 1,000 cubic yards of rock and cobble material from this section of the project. The rocks are a navigational hazard at lower stages of the tide. The proposed rock removal and dredging will remove hard packed sand and rocks from approximately 34,600 square feet of the authorized project area.
Dredging will be performed with a mechanical dredge, the government-owned “Snell.” The government-owned special purpose hopper dredge “Currituck” will be used as the scow. The rock material (with some sand) will be placed adjacent to rock outcroppings off of the Maschaug area of Westerly, approximately 6 miles from the channel, seaward of the 30-foot depth contour. Scows containing primarily sand will transit to a nearshore site off of Misquamicut Beach for placement.
The work will take place over a three week period. The exact dates of work will depend on the availability of government dredging equipment and will occur sometime between October 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015.