Maryland Port Administration joins CDMCS

The Council for Dredging and Marine Construction Safety (CDMCS) has just announced that the Maryland Port Administration (MPA), Port of Baltimore, officially joined the organization.

“We’re thrilled to join the Council for Dredging and Marine Construction Safety,” said William P. Doyle, Executive Director of the Maryland Port Administration, Port of Baltimore.

“The Port of Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay Region are engaged in round-the-clock dredging, dredged material management and marine construction – 24 hours per day, 7 days a week and 365 days per year. Safety is our top priority.”

“During the pandemic the CDMCS provided a timely library of COVID-19 crisis management response tools and resources to dredging contractors that kept them working and safe,” added CDMCS Executive Director, Michael Gerhardt.

“The nation’s ports stayed open, and we kept the economy moving together. The council and I look forward to sharing our knowledge, resources and best practices with MPA, Port of Baltimore Executive Director William P. Doyle and his Harbor Development Team and likewise are excited to learn from his esteemed group of professionals.”

The Maryland Port Administration operates two Dredge Material Containment Facilities (DMCF) located respectively at Cox Creek and Masonville.

The sites are upland disposal areas anchored on land with diked containment areas projecting into the Patapsco River and Baltimore Harbor.

The sites are designed to accept dredged material from Baltimore Harbor.

In addition, MPA and USACE recently completed construction of Paul S. Sarbanes Poplar Island Environmental Restoration Project, adding four new wetland cells and one upland cell.

The expansion adds 575 acres and capacity for 28 million cubic yards of material. Poplar Island will still receive maintenance dredging material for the next 10 years.

MPA and USACE are also advancing plans for their next partnership using dredged material to preserve and protect Maryland’s waterways – the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration (Mid-Bay).