The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, is urging boaters to carry out safe boating practices in the Chesapeake Bay this National Safe Boating Week, as ongoing construction activities continue near Poplar Island.
“ The public’s safety all year round, not just during National Safe Boating Week, continues to be our number one priority as we continue our efforts to inform the public of the construction area that extends north of Poplar Island ,” said Justin Callahan, project manager for the Baltimore District’s Poplar Island project .
The construction zone around Poplar Island, which extends more than one mile north of the existing island, is marked by a total of 50 cautionary buoys.
This construction is part of Baltimore District’s Poplar Island expansion project, which is a partnership with the Maryland Port Administration, to create an additional 575 acres of remote island habitat using clean material dredged from the Maryland Chesapeake Bay approach channels to the Port of Baltimore.
Large rocks and sand are first placed to create dikes to outline the expansion cells, allowing dredge material to later be placed within the cell.
These large, submerged rocks are currently being placed within the area outlined by the cautionary buoys and will only pose a hazard to vessels that venture inside this zone, reported the Corps.