Posted on November 4, 2024
Fenwick Island’s channel dredging project is well under way, and town officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the project will be completed by the first week of November.
The dredging of the north and south channels leading to the Little Assawoman Bay from the town’s canals began Oct. 10, according to Dredging Committee Chairman Bill Rymer.
“Since that time, there have been some days with extremely efficient dredging, but also some days with equipment adjustments, repair, and we’ve done some changes to the property where the material is being placed,” Rymer said.
The work on the north channel was completed on Oct. 24, he said.
“That was a great accomplishment to get done. This is about one week ahead of schedule.”
The dredge was relocated to the south channel on Oct. 25, the same day Rymer made his report at the monthly town council meeting. The first priority was making sure the pipe connecting the dredge to the site across the bay where the dredged materials are being placed is “low enough in the channel” so boats won’t hit it, he said.
Rymer explained that the dredge equipment is actually in four parts, which are disassembled and reassembled each time it moves to a new location.
The “dewatering location” is across the bay, on property where the Freeman Companies are beginning construction of a residential community. Large “geobags” can be seen on the site, about 150 yards from the shoreline.
Rymer showed photos of the “bag field,” which consists of large bags holding the dredged material and allowing it to dry. The water that comes out of the bags — which could be seen in the images he showed — will return to the bay, Rymer said.
Each of the 15 bags will ultimately be filled to about 7.5 feet tall, he said.
“Sand goes into the bags, along with a lot of water,” Rymer said. The bags filter the water. “The sand stays in. The water comes out. It’s actually like six little waterfalls coming off the bags,” he said.
Rymer said Nov. 7 is the current target date for completion of the dredging.
“One of the things I have learned is the bottom of the bay contains hard-packed sand and soft sand,” he said. “When you come to the soft sand, there’s less drilling, and the suction is easier, because once you make a hole, the soft sand comes to it.”
“Hard sand” takes longer to suction, he said.
That difference made the work on the north channel go much more quickly than expected, he explained.
“Every few feet, it changes” between soft and hard-packed sand, he said. “So, you can’t anticipate how quickly you’re going to go.”
Rymer said it’s possible the project could be completed sooner than Nov. 7. The dredge operators decided last week that they would work on Sunday, Oct. 27, “to keep the momentum going” and catch up from a day missed due to equipment issues.
“This project can go 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said, though, “it’s scheduled six days, 12 hours a day.”
“I apologize” to the residents who might have heard the dredge motor on Sunday, he said, describing the sound as “like a hum. It was not an uncomfortable noise.”
Rymer cautioned residents not to walk to the dredge site to see the “bag field,” because it is private property and an active construction site.
“Ninety percent of what you see from the road is not related to our project,” he said.
The site is near the Catch 54 restaurant on Route 54.
Once the channel dredging is completed, the soil in the bags will be sampled to ensure that it meets criteria for residential development.
