Hurricane Threat Leads To Delay In Berwick Bay Dredging

The hurricane threat has delayed the beginning of dredging work to deal with shoaling in Berwick Bay.

The Port of Morgan City board learned Aug. 10 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the dredging vessel Ingenuity was scheduled to begin work in Berwick Bay at the end of this month.

Much of the immediate need for dredging focused on the Morgan City side, where sediment and Atchafalaya River levels below 3 feet combined to hamper riverfront business that rely on access to the water.

But the Ingenuity, owned by Inland Dredging Co. LLC of Dyersburg, Tennessee, has been held up in Houma, waiting for the waterways to reopen, said port Director Raymond “Mac” Wade in a text message Tuesday.

“Most likely starting next week,” Wade said.

The dredge will be available for 50-60 days, Tim Connell of the Corps of Engineers told the port board.

The National Weather Service has predicted that Hurricane Laura will bring a storm surge of 7-11 feet west of Morgan City and 4-6 feet to the east.

The expected rise in the Atchafalaya River at Morgan City may have begun earlier than expected. The National Weather Service says that at 8 a.m. Wednesday, the river was at 3.84 feet, up more than a foot since Tuesday.

The river is expected to reach 7 feet, the stage at which moderate flooding occurs, just before 9 a.m. Thursday and be back below 4 feet Thursday evening.

Both the Morgan City and Berwick town governments have closed gates in their respective flood walls.