Posted on September 30, 2024
ESSEX — The Essex River, a federally-managed waterway, will be dredged for the first time in about 37 years beginning in two weeks.
The dredging will begin Friday, Oct. 11, and is expected to finish Jan. 31, according to Atlantic Coast Tug & Marine, the contractor chosen by the Army Corps of Engineers to do the job. Atlantic Coast Tug & Marine, with offices based in Boston and Nottingham, New Hampshire, offering a winning bid of $2,284,000 for the job.
The goal of the project, estimated to cost between $3.7 million and $4.4 million, is to improve navigation for boaters on the river, an estuary, at all tidal stages. Low tide has been an ongoing safety concern, as town leaders have said boats used by the harbormaster can’t get out and the Coast Guard can’t get in.
The dredging will be performed from the channel entrance in Essex Bay down to the Essex Marina on Dodge Street. Tugs will be regularly traversing the river, a federally-managed waterway, with large barges.
The private contractor will use a mechanical dredge for the work, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Dredged material will be transported by scow to the Isles of Shoals North Disposal Site (IOSN) and the Ipswich Bay Nearshore Disposal Site.
The project got its start in 2016 as part of the Water Resource Development Act of 2016, which included a provision by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, to allow dredging to take place.
