The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District is currently utilizing 24-hour dredging in Grand Haven, Michigan, during favorable weather to remove shoaling blocking the harbor from commercial traffic.
Severe weather and minimal ice cover during the winter led to increased shoaling in several harbors on Lake Michigan this year, blocking large commercial vessel traffic.
The King Co., Inc. of Holland, Michigan is on-site and contracted to clear 141,000 cubic yards of sand from the federal channel at Grand Haven, just beyond the pierheads, announced the Army Corps.
The material will be placed 7,000 to 10,000 feet north of the north pier onto the beach and into the nearshore area between the Ordinary High-Water Mark (OHWM) and the most-landward 12 feet depth contour in the lake.
“The team really pulled together to address the rapidly changing conditions at both Grand Haven and Holland harbors,” said Elizabeth Newell Wilkinson, Grand Haven Resident Engineer. “We’re dredging later than planned but looking forward to the safe opening of the harbor to commercial shipping very soon.”
The project is expected to be completed in mid-July.