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Construction tentatively scheduled to start in November 2018: Corps awards contract to dredge Plymouth Harbor Federal navigation project in Plymouth

Published Oct. 2, 2018

CONCORD, Mass. Maintenance dredging of the Plymouth Harbor Federal navigation project in Plymouth, Massachusetts, will be completed under the terms of a $9,375,800.00 contract issued recently by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. Work will be accomplished by Burnham Associates, Inc., of Salem, Massachusetts. Work is tentatively scheduled to start in November 2018 and take about 5 to 6 months to complete. The contract was awarded on Sept. 26, 2018.

 

“Natural shoaling processes have reduced available depths to as little as 7.0 feet in the 18-foot main channel (which is maintained to 15.0 feet), 7.0 feet in the 15-foot channel, and 4.0 feet in the 8-foot anchorage, making navigation hazardous at lower stages of the tide,” said Project Manager Michael Walsh, of the Corps’ New England District, Programs/Project Management Division in Concord, Massachusetts. “Maintenance dredging of approximately 385,000 cubic yards of sand and silt from approximately 75 acres of the authorized project area will restore the project to authorized and maintained dimensions.”

 

Plymouth Harbor is located in Plymouth Bay, about 18 miles north of the Cape Cod Canal. It is partially protected by Long Beach, a 3.6-mile long barrier beach that extends along the harbor’s east side. Plymouth’s place in history annually attracts hundreds of recreational and transient boaters to the harbor, which is also a popular center for charter excursions, whale watch expeditions, and sport fishing boats. Initial work in the harbor, completed in 1893, involved dredging a channel in the inner harbor and a basin in front of the town wharf, both to a depth of nine feet. Work also included protecting Long Beach from erosion to prevent further damage to the harbor.

 

The 18-foot mean lower low water (MLLW) outer entrance channel contains approximately 41,000 cubic yards of fine sand. This material is proposed for placement at the Green Harbor beach nearshore site dependent upon site capacity. The remaining material (approximately 344,000 cubic yards) is primarily silt and clay and proposed for placement at the Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay Disposal sites. Construction is expected to take between 5-6 months within the allowable dredge window of Oct. 1 to Jan. 31 of any given year. If dredging is not completed in one season, construction will occur the following season within the allowable dredge window.

 

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

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Navigation/Massachusetts/Plymouth-Harbor/. A map is available at: http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/Massachusetts-Projects/. Select Plymouth.

                                                                                         


Contact
Tim Dugan
978-318-8264
cenae-pa@usace.army.mil

Release no. 18-092