Mystic River Dredging Deal Awarded

Maintenance dredging of a portion of the Mystic River Federal Navigation Project in Groton and Stonington, Conn., will be completed under the terms of a $5.3 million contract recently awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. The state of Connecticut is funding the dredging project.

Work will be accomplished by Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting Company, LLC, of Quincy, Mass. Construction is scheduled to start on or about Nov. 3, 2014 and will take about five months to complete. The contract was awarded on Sept. 30, 2014.

The Mystic River Federal Navigation Project in Groton and Stonington consists of: a 15-foot channel, 125 feet from the Sound up to the railroad bridge, then 100 feet wide up to highway bridge (U.S. Route 1); a 12-foot channel above the highway bridge to the upper wharves at the Seaport Museum; a 9-foot by 8.5-acre anchorage in the harbor north of Mason Island; and a 9-foot turning basin above the railroad bridge.

“The work consists of maintenance dredging of up to 250,000 cubic yards of material from the Mystic River Federal navigation project,” said Project Manager Jennifer Flanagan, of the Corps’ Programs and Project Management Division in Concord, Mass. “The dredging will restore the channels and anchorage area to authorized depths.”

The 12-foot channel was last maintained in 1941. Dredging of the other project features was last accomplished with the improvement work completed in 1957. A mechanical dredge will be used to remove shoals from all areas of the FNP and the material will be placed in scows and transported to the New London Disposal Site or the Rhode Island Disposal Site for placement.

The project will be managed by the Corps under the supervision of a Corps’ Quality Assurance Representative to assure compliance with contract requirements.