Largest Dredging Contract Awarded by USACE

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District, has announced the award of the second construction contract for work in the Charleston Harbor Entrance Channel as part of the Charleston Harbor Post 45 Deepening Project.

The award, officially made on Thursday, is for $213 million to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, LLC for the removal of approximately 7.95 million cubic yards of material from the Entrance Channel.

This second contract, when combined with the first contract, awarded on September 7, 2017, will achieve the newly authorized depth of 54 feet throughout the more than 20 mile long Charleston Harbor Entrance Channel. The dredged material will primarily be placed in the Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site offshore.

“The award of the second contract for the Entrance Channel keeps us in line with our schedule, which will be the most time-consuming phase of the project,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Palazzini, district commander.

David Simonelli, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation, President of Dredging Division, commented, “The Charleston 2 deepening project is an important win for GLDD representing the largest dredging contract ever awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer.”

“Combined with the $47.2 million Charleston 1 deepening project Great Lakes won in August, our hopper and cutter dredges will excavate over 20 million cubic yards of material to deepen the 20 mile Charleston Entrance Channel,” added Simonelli.

It is anticipated that a combination of hopper, cutterhead and mechanical dredges will be utilized for construction under this contract. The requirements of this contract include the placement of dredged rock material to create nine artificial reefs, for a total of approximately 265 acres of hard bottom habitat, and a berm around the ODMDS, which will create more than 400 acres of additional hard bottom.

This is the final contract that will be required to complete the deepening of the Entrance Channel and is part of the overall $529 million project cost. Depending on full-funding, dredge availability, weather and a variety of other factors, work is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

A timeline for the dredging of the upper and lower harbors has not yet been finalized, but is planned to take place concurrently during a portion of the timeframe required to complete the Entrance Channel.