The delayed dredging project in the St. Joseph Harbor is scheduled to begin as early as Saturday.
City of St. Joseph Harbormaster Michael Moran spotted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers survey boat just before noon Wednesday, and received a notice shortly thereafter that Roen Salvage Company will be dredging the inner harbor on the St. Joseph River between July 23 and August 5.
“I don’t know if they are going to start quite that early or if it will be early next week,” said Moran, who was recently appointed harbormaster. “They usually block off a window of time a little bit before and a little bit after so people are aware of the dredging going on.”
Moran said Roen Salvage will dredge the inner harbor, and then truck the material to the airport in the first phase of the project. The King Co. will then dredge the outer harbor to help replenish the beaches. There is no start date scheduled for the second phase of the project, as The King Co. completes emergency dredging work in Muskegon.
Moran said he expects the outer harbor project likely will not begin for at least a month, but he intends to document the whole project to educate residents.
“I’ll be taking video showing the clamshell crane digging in the river, the barges getting loaded, the barges arriving at the dock, barges being unloaded into truck and following the trucks to the airport dump site,” he said. “That way [people] can understand what dredging is, how it works and why its so important.”
The pictures and video will be posted on Moran’s Facebook page St. Joseph and Benton Harbor Shipping News.
By Ryan Yuenger
ryany@wsjm.com
