OCEAN CITY, Md. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Baltimore District plans to remove about 5,000 cubic yards of dredged material from the Ocean City Inlet beginning Nov. 20.
Officials say the dredge MURDEN will work in Priority Area No. 1 – the entrance to the Sinepuxent Channel – from Nov. 20 through Nov. 25. The goal is to finish clearing the entrance to West Ocean City Harbor, a project that began earlier this year.
“We are proud to continue oversight of safe and reliable navigation in the Ocean City region with a new round of dredging operations within the inlet,” Col. Francis Pera, the Baltimore District commander, said in a statement. “Ensuring local waterways remain accessible to our U.S. Coast Guard partners as well as commercial and recreational users is critical to both safety and economic security.”
The northern portion of West Ocean City Harbor was dredged in July using the Wilmington District’s sidecasting dredge MERRITT, which removed nearly 8,000 cubic yards of material from three priority areas.
The MURDEN is expected to finish the latest dredging shortly before Thanksgiving. If work isn’t completed by Nov. 25, operations will pause and resume Nov. 29, continuing until the channel reaches the required depth and is cleared for vessel traffic.