USACE to deploy dredger Merritt near Stone Harbor

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District said that they recently issued an advisory regarding upcoming maintenance dredging.

The government owned and operated Dredge Merritt will be conducting maintenance dredging of portions of the federal channel of the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway between markers 419 and 427, and between markers 388 and 399 near Stone Harbor, N.J.

According to USACE, work will take place between September 21 and 24 during daylight hours.

The Merritt, homeported out of the USACE Wilmington (NC) District, will be dredging the channel intermittently to evaluate an innovative sidecasting method as part of ongoing initiatives under the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab.

The Army Corps’ Philadelphia District maintains the 117-mile-long New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway. Sections of the waterway are periodically dredged to enable maritime navigation.

When the dredged material is clean, the Army Corps looks for opportunities to use the material beneficially.