USACE completes Cuyahoga River dredging for 2023

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Buffalo District completed $19.5 million maintenance and repairs to Cleveland Harbor for 2023.

This year’s work included:

• annual maintenance dredging in the Cuyahoga River,

• significant repairs to the harbor’s more-than century old breakwater, ensuring safe access for vessels, the flow of commodities across the Great Lakes, and the economic viability of the nation’s waterways.

“The Corps of Engineers mission to support navigation is one of its most critical,” said Lt. Col. Colby Krug, USACE Buffalo District commander. “We’re proud to have completed these projects and ensure Cleveland’s public infrastructure can support quality of life, the economy, and national security.”

Annual maintenance dredging began in May 2023 and was completed November 16 over the course of spring and fall periods of work.

270,000 cubic yards of material was mechanically dredged by USACE and its contractor, Michigan-based Ryba Marine Construction Company, and placed in both Port of Cleveland and USACE confined disposal facilities around the harbor.

This year’s dredging project cost $8.95 million.

Funding is in place to dredge Cleveland Harbor again starting in May 2024.

Repair of the west breakwater began in June 2022 and was finished in September 2023.

The $10.5 million project, executed by USACE and its contractor, Michigan-based Dean Marine & Excavating, Inc., was 100 percent federally funded.