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Clearwater-based Gator Dredging has won a $9.6 million contract to dredge hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of material from Seaport Manatee, the U.S. Department of Defense said.
According to Tampa Bay Business Journal , the dredged material will be used at Washington Park north of Palmetto to fill in portions of a 68-acre borrow pit that was dug in the 195os for the construction of U.S. Hwy. 41.
This will help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ goal of increasing the percentage of beneficial use of its dredged material, said Public Affairs Specialist at U.S. Army, David Ruderman.
William Coughlin, CEO and owner of Gator Dredging , added that the project should take about a year and will employ about 22 of its loo operational employees.
The dredging project is funded entirely by the federal infrastructure law passed in 2021, Ruderman said.
Offloading so much material will allow the port to regain capacity to accommodate additional dredging cycles, added the port spokesperson, Virginia Zimmerman.