Navy unveils Kennebec River dredging plan

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) said that the US Department of the Navy is proposing to conduct maintenance dredging of the shoaled portions of the Kennebec River Federal Navigation Project between Phippsburg and Bath, Maine.

According to DMR, the Navy plans to dredge approximately 60,500 cubic yards of clean sand from shoaled areas at Doubling Point, Popham Beach, and Bath Reach and place it at a previously used in-river placement area north of Bluff Head and at a 500-yard diameter placement area located 0.4 nautical miles south of Jackknife Ledge, respectively.

Approximately 35,500 cy of material will be removed from the Doubling Point area, approximately10,000 cy of material will be removed from the Popham Beach area mouth, and approximately 15,000 cy of material will be removed from the Bath Reach area.

On average, the combined dredging at Doubling Point, Popham Beach, and Bath Reach takes approximately 8-11 days to complete. Historically, dredging occurs in 2-3 hour periods separated by a 1-hour transit to and from the disposal site.

Dredging operations are scheduled to begin in 2026 and are expected to occur periodically over ten years between December 1 and March 1, DMR said.