Vazquez Commercial Contracting LLC (VCC) of Kansas City, Missouri, recently won a $28.2 million contract for hydraulic dredging of the Illinois River Basin.
In order to maintain the 9-foot navigation channel, maintenance dredging is performed at various locations in the reach of the Illinois Waterway. Therefore, this project will require several dredging events over multiple years to accomplish the task, reported the Army Corps.
According to the Department of Defense , the work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2025.
Dredging of the Waterway 9-foot Channel Project is generally required at 5 to 15 sites, and the volume of material dredged is approximately 250,000 cubic yards per year.
Due to the large sediment load carried by the waterway and continually changing flows, specific dredging locations and quantities to be dredged vary from year-to-year.
The dredged material is usually removed from the navigation channel by a contractor hydraulic cutterhead dredge and discharged to placement sites by floating pipeline. The contract dredge is a 14- to 16-inch hydraulic dredge.
Under optimum conditions, the dredge can pump as much as 350 cubic yards per hour as far as 5,500 feet, including 1,500 feet inland.