OCEAN CITY, Md. -- A crew with the Army Corps of Engineers arrived in Ocean City on Wednesday afternoon, ready to take another whack at the inlet's shoaling problem.
Worcester County pushes for emergency dredging each year ahead of the White Marlin Open, and last year the county was successful. Those efforts again proved fruitful this year, albeit with a slight changeup.
The dredge that arrived in Ocean City on Tuesday afternoon is not what people are used to seeing off Maryland's coast.
The Merritt, known as a sidecaster, has one distinctive feature: a gigantic black tube that hangs over the ship's hull. It kind of looks like a cannon, and that's because it works like one.
"She's[dredge] dragging along the bottom, she's picking up the sand and then it's being ejected 90 degrees, 85 feet away from the dredge outside the channel," said Jeffrey Price, a Construction Representative with the Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District.
Typically, the Murden or Currituck dredges operate in the inlet. Both are hopper dredges, and they pick up sand from the inlet, take it two miles away, and dump the material off the coast of Assateague.
The Merritt operates very differently, but Price said it should be just as effective.
"We expect this to last for several months," said Price.
Captain Lemuel Willis is leading the ten-day operation.
"I've worked this area since I came with the Corps of Engineers in '97 and we've been dredging this project since I've been here," said Willis.
He's used sidecasters for over 20 years, but this will be his first time using one in the inlet. Still, the seasoned captain is confident in himself, his crew and The Merritt.
"We know where the issues are going to go, or where they are, and we know how to currently mitigate the shoaling conditions," said Willis.
The goal of the dredge work remains the same: clear out the channel to benefit commercial fishermen, the Coast Guard and of course, participants in the upcoming White Marlin Open.
The Army Corps of Engineers will work in 12-hour shifts during the day.