Black River Canal dredging begins in Port Huron

The mouth of the Black River canal is getting its almost-annual face-lift.

Crews started dredging excess sand from the mouth of the Black River Canal on Wednesday. The sand being removed will be placed in the waters of Lake Huron along a small public beach at the end of Holland Avenue, said Dave Smith, city engineering manager. From there it will be pushed south up to 850 feet.

“We typically end up dredging every year in the spring,” Smith said.

The lake’s waves can push sand into the mouth of the canal, closing the waterway if it isn’t dredged, Smith said.

The dredging is done in part to maintain water flow through the canal, preventing it from becoming a mosquito infested, smelly body of stagnant water, he said. The canal is also a valued route for local boaters, Smith said.

At its March 11 meeting, Port Huron’s City Council accepted a bid by Boddy Construction Company, Inc. for an estimated project cost of $49,125. The vote was 6-0.

The city also received bids from S.A. Torello, Inc. in Port Huron for $81,200 and from Dean Marine and Excavating Inc of Mt. Clemens, for $95,615.42.

The transportation of the sand from the site is expected to start on Monday and continue until April 30. The crews will use Gratiot Avenue to LaSalle Boulevard, to Conger Street, to Holland Avenue when transporting the dredged material, the release said.

Smith said there may be stop-and-go traffic on Gratiot while the work is carried out, and said the city may deploy a flagger. The public is encouraged to avoid parking in these areas while the work is conducted.

In years past, the dredged sand has been taken to Lakeside Beach, Smith said.

“Lakeside Beach is getting a little full of sand,” he said.

About $260, 979 has been spend dredging the canal since 2009, according to a memo from Port Huron City Manager James Freed. The most expensive year listed in the memo was 2015, when the canal was dredged three times at a cost of $71,582.10 and removing 11,098 cubic yards of dredged material, according to the memo. In 2018, the canal was dredged once, costing 41,745 and removing 2,530 cubic yards of material, the memo said.

Anyone with questions about the project can contact the City of Port Huron Department of Public Works at 810 984-9730.

_{Source: thetimesherald.com}