Hopper dredger Murden gears up for Stage Harbor job

Town of Chatham said that USACE’s hopper dredge Murden is set to arrive on or about August 29 to begin maintenance dredging of the entrance channel to Stage Harbor.

The dredging vessel will be dredging daily for approximately 13 days using 24 hr. shifts with crew changes at 6:00 a.m. and then 6:00 p.m., the Town said.

The dredged material will be placed in the designated disposal site offshore of Harding’s Beach.

The Murden, named in honor of the late William R. Murden, formerly in charge of the Corps’ dredging operations, is a 156-foot by 35-foot split-hull hopper dredge with a draft of five feet, designed to work the shallow inlets, rivers and marinas on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

The dredger’s draft is not as shallow as a side-caster dredge’s, but it can move spoil to a specific site such as a beach that needs replenishment.