USA: Meeting on Dillingham Harbor Dredging Set for March 25

The public is invited to meet with representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, to discuss the annual Dillingham Small Boat Harbor maintenance dredging project.

A presentation and meeting is scheduled from 1-2:30 p.m. March 25 at the City Hall Council Chambers located at 141 Main Street in Dillingham. The Corps will also be available at City Hall from 3-5 p.m. to answer questions.

The Corps plans to continue annual maintenance dredging using a hydraulic pipeline dredge to remove sediment from the harbor and transport it to an in-water disposal site. About 90,000 cubic yards of sediment originating from the Nushagak River would be dredged and disposed of annually between May 15 and July 15. However, the preference is to complete dredging and in-water disposal by June 30 to minimize impacts of harbor use during the subsistence and commercial fishing season.

The positioning of the dredge pipeline may limit the options for boats entering or exiting the harbor at certain tides. The pipeline route will be clearly marked by buoys and aids to navigation, and a local notice to mariners will also be issued prior to each dredge season.

Dredged material from the harbor was formerly placed at upland disposal sites, but the Corps switched to in-water disposal from 2004-2008 after the available upland disposal sites reached capacity.

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Press Release, March 18, 2014