The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District announced last Friday that dredging operations on the Intracoastal Waterway (IWW) Palm Valley North Reaches will begin this week.
Dredging will address problematic shoaling within this reach of the IWW and is expected to remove approximately 640,000 cubic yards of material from the channel. The material will be deposited in the existing Dredge Material Management Area DU-9, located in Duval County at the north end of the project area, reported the Army Corps.
USACE also added that dredging will be undertaken in a single shift daily, seven days per week, with a completion date of Summer 2022.
With some 7.5 miles of pipe and up to five booster barges operating at any one time, the Corps requested all boaters and residents to exercise heightened caution in the work areas.
Navigators should watch for the marked floating pipeline within the IWW, and for the working dredge and transport barge when transiting the north reach. Boaters should also be mindful when passing the dredge, ensure passage on the correct side of the vessel, and abide by no-wake requirements, concluded USACE.