Addressing Sediment Accumulation in Ocean City Inlet

The USACE’s Baltimore District hosted a public meeting May 30 at the Worcester County Library – Berlin Branch – to discuss two concurrent efforts: a project to address sediment accumulation (shoaling) in the Ocean City Inlet, as well as a study on the scour hole near Homer Gudelsky Park.

During the meeting, fishermen and recreational boaters said that the build-up is the worst after a big storm and can cause safety risks, and can be costly, reports WBOC.

Engineers added that they try to dredge as often as they can, but dredging is only a temporary solution. Sometimes, the build-up can cause recreational boats and commercial boats to run aground.

“Things that we’re thinking about are deepening the channel, possibly relocating the federal channel, so we would move the channel to where there is already deeper water, to stop the need for so much dredging, and then maybe a structural solution, to reconfigure the jetties, or maybe building a structure off of the jetties,” said Jacqui Seiple, USACE project manager.

Engineers said that the dredging works will still be needed at some point, but with permanent fixes to the Inlet, they hope this will become less frequent.