Dredger misses spot, Muskegon harbor shoaling returns
July 01, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
by Robert C. Burns | Source: Muskegon Chronicle
Muskegon is a deep-water port again following a now-completed spring dredging operation that returned the outer harbor to safe depths of up to 30 feet.
The King Co. of Holland restored those depths under dredging schedule expedited the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after four lake freighters were halted during the last shipping season.
However, under a notice to navigation interests sent out last week by the Detroit office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the contractor missed one small area south of the centerline approach between Muskegon’s outer pierheads.
…In the area the contractor missed an area the Corps refers to as the “south flare,” the shallowest depth is listed as 26.2 feet, but isn’t considered critical, given its location.
“Dredging is an inexact science,” said Wayne Schloop, chief of operations for the Corps’ Detroit office. “We wouldn’t make the contractor come back to try to clear that type of small shoal, which is minor and would have little impact on navigation.”
