CONCORD, Mass. – Maintenance dredging of two anchorages and a portion of the entrance channel of the York Harbor Federal Navigation Project in York, Maine, will be completed under the terms of a $1,700,650.00 contract recently issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. Work will be accomplished by Prock Marine Company of Rockland, Maine. Once a notice to proceed is issued dredging will be authorized to start. Dredging is scheduled to take several months to complete. The contract was awarded on Oct. 5, 2017.

The proposed work consists of the mechanical maintenance dredging to remove shoals in the two, 8-foot-deep anchorages and a portion of the 10-foot-deep entrance channel. Removal of derelict moorings also may be required. Approximately 90 percent of the anchorages have shoaled in. These shoals are the result of natural shoaling. The shoals are hindering navigational access and compromising vessel safety.

This project consists of the maintenance dredging of approximately 40,000 cubic yards of primarily fine-grain sand, silt and clay, with more coarse grain sand and gravel from the channel, returning the Federal project to its authorized dimensions.

The dredged material will be placed at the Cape Arundel Disposal Site, about 14 miles away. Both commercial fishing boats and recreational boats are moored in the harbor. The dredge window, due to environmental constraints, is Nov. 1 to March 31. The last time the harbor was dredged was in 1996 when approximately 48,000 cubic yards of sediment were mechanically removed from the two anchorages (channel wasn’t dredged), and placed at the Cape Arundel Disposal Site.

York Harbor lies at the mouth of the York River, a small stream that empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The harbor is located about 41 miles southwest of Portland and eight miles northeast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. York Harbor is used extensively by local lobstering, sportfishing and recreational fleets, as well as fishing and recreational charter boats.

The project will be managed by the Corps under supervision of a Corps’ Quality Assurance Representative to assure compliance with contract requirements. For details on the York Harbor FNP visit:

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Navigation/Maine/YorkHarbor.aspx. A map is available at: http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/Navigation/ME/YOR/YORmap.pdf.

For contract information visit: www.nae.usace.army.mil/BusinessWithUs/Contracting.aspx. For general information visit: www.nae.usace.army.mil/. For Small Business information visit: www.nae.usace.army.mil/BusinessWithUs/SmallBusiness.aspx.