Posted on May 30, 2017
By James F. McCarty, Cleveland Connects
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received a $24.83 million windfall of federal funds for projects on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, including additional money for work in the Cleveland and Lorain harbors, a corps spokesman said.
Congress approved the additional funding for the Consolidated Appropriations Act on May 3. Last year, the Army Corps only received an additional $4 million, said spokesman Andrew Kornacki.
“So we’re very fortunate,” Kornacki said. “Ultimately, the additional money will benefit Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and the people around those structures where the work will be done.”
This fall, the Army Corps will use $1.8 million of the funds to dredge Cleveland’s six-mile shipping channel, Kornacki said. A Corps survey team will identify where sediment is collecting in the channel, and where dredging is needed, he said.
The Army Corps previously paid $3.7 million to a contractor to dredge the channel this spring.
In addition, the Army Corps will use $2.9 million of the new money to pay for repairs on the Lorain Harbor outer breakwater, where a dive team discovered damage in a metal sheet pile wall, Kornacki said.
The damage was likely caused by ice and wind action over the years. Other damages to the concrete-and-metal breakwater were repaired last year, he said.
“Over time, these structures take a beating,” Kornacki said, “but that’s what they’re there for.”
An additional $4.7 million of the new funds will be used to dredge the Conneaut, Toussaint and West harbors on Lake Erie.
Source: cleveland.com
