Collins, King: $11.7M for Dredging and Maintenance Projects in Maine

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King have announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its fiscal year 2018 work plan, which includes important dredging and maintenance projects in Maine, totaling $11,780,000. 

The budget for the Army Corps of Engineers is overseen by the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, of which Senator Collins is a senior member.

“We are pleased that the Army Corps of Engineers has advanced these critical dredging projects for Maine harbors and rivers, which will help address significant safety and navigational concerns for commercial fishermen as well as recreational boaters,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement.

“Maine’s waterways are the lifeblood of many coastal regions and support our state’s economy. We will continue to work with the Corps and local communities to address Maine’s other important maintenance needs.”

Some of these projects that have received funding under the Corps’ work plan are:

• Saco River – $4,200,000

Funds are being used to award a fully funded base bid contract with options to perform maintenance dredging of about 140,000 cubic yards of material from the 8-foot channel and anchorage with in-river placement and beach renourishment.

• York Harbor  – $2,500,000

Funds are being used to award a fully funded contract to perform maintenance dredging of about 42,000 cubic yards of material from the 10-foot channel and 8-foot anchorages with placement at the Cape Arundel Disposal Site.

• Cape Porpoise Harbor – $2,500,000

Funds will be used for maintenance dredging.

• Wells Harbor – $400,000

Funds are being used to perform maintenance dredging of the 8-foot entrance channel using the government dredger Currituck. About 5,000 cubic yards of sandy material would be removed and placed at a near shore site off Wells Beach.

• Disposal Area Monitoring – $1,050,000

Funds are being used to perform annual disposal site monitoring; including condition surveys, sediment sampling and testing, repositioning of disposal site buoys and preparation of several monitoring study reports.