Mobile Bay dredging plan on display

The City of Mobile, Al, Engineering Department is seeking an Army Corps permit for a dredging project in Mobile Bay. The work will be located at the entrance channel to the McNally Park public boat ramp.

The purpose of the proposed project is to maintenance dredge an existing channel to preserve the public’s navigable access to Mobile Bay and to stabilize and protect the existing structures associated with the access channel.

In fact, the applicant proposes to hydraulically and mechanically dredge 120,000 square feet (2.75 acres) of water bottoms in Mobile Bay for navigable depths.

Furthermore, the dredging work would include the removal of 15,000 cubic yards of sandy silt material in the first year and 10,000 cubic yards of material biennially for the remainder of the five-year permit for a total of 35,000 cubic yards of dredging.

Also, the water levels after dredging will measure to depths of -7 feet below MLLW.

The applicant proposes to discharge the dredged sandy silt material into 200,000 square feet (4.59 acres) of waterbottoms for the stabilization of the existing jetties surrounding the McNally Park access channel.

The deadline for submitting the comments for this project is November 18, 2020.