Posted on September 18, 2023
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District has issued an advisory regarding upcoming maintenance dredging.
The government owned and operated Dredge Merritt will be conducting maintenance dredging of portions of the federal channel of the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway between markers 419 and 427, and between markers 388 and 399 near Stone Harbor, N.J. Work will take place between September 21 and 24 during daylight hours.
The Merritt, homeported out of the USACE Wilmington (NC) District, will be dredging the channel intermittently to evaluate an innovative sidecasting method as part of ongoing initiatives under the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab.
Mariners should be aware of dredging operation in this area and proceed with caution.
About the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab
The Army Corps’ Philadelphia District maintains the 117-mile-long New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway. Sections of the waterway are periodically dredged to enable maritime navigation. When the dredged material is clean, the Army Corps looks for opportunities to use the material beneficially. In April 2019, the Army Corps’ Philadelphia District partnered with the USACE Engineering Research & Development Lab, New Jersey Fish & Wildlife and The Wetlands Institute to launch the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab. The initiative is designed to advance and improve dredging and marsh restoration techniques through beneficial use of dredged sediments in coastal New Jersey through innovative research, collaboration, knowledge sharing and practical application.
