Posted on May 3, 2018
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, recently awarded contracts for dredging in a trio of northwest Michigan harbors, including Manistee and Portage Lake.
The Corps awarded two new maintenance dredging contracts for the pair of local harbors and one for an inland harbor in Holland.
Dredging in Manistee and Portage Lake is slated to be complete within the time frame of May 14 and Sept. 21. The last time the Corps dredged in Manistee Harbor was 2016, and the last time in Portage Lake Harbor was 2010.
“This important work will keep the shipping channels open and the Corps of Engineers is pleased to do its part to maintain these key components of the Great Lakes Navigation System,” said Lt. Col. Dennis Sugrue, district engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District. “Marine transport of commodities is safe, economical and environmentally friendly.”
MCM Marine, Inc., of Sault Ste. Marie, was awarded more than $1 million to dredge approximately 60,000 cubic yards of material from Manistee Harbor and 128,000 cubic yards of material from Portage Lake Harbor.
Material will be placed south of each harbor in the near shore areas for beach nourishment at both Manistee and Portage Lake Harbors.
Cargo coming into Manistee Harbor includes coal, sand, salt and general cargo, while Portage Lake Harbor serves as an important Harbor of Refuge and supports commercial and recreational fishing interests.
The dredging to be done for the Portage Lake Harbor coincides with a $6.2 million replacement/construction project on the deteriorating Portage Lake channel, which is also slated to begin this month.
Since Portage Lake is federally owned, the responsibility of its maintenance and repair falls on the government. Federal funding for recreational harbors, however, had been nearly nonexistent in recent years.
For the past decade, Onekama Township and its Portage Lake Harbor Commission has actively pursued preventive measures to combat an essentially imminent collapse of the aging structure, which would spell disaster for the local economy.
In 2015, the Corps officially classified the Portage Lake channel a “high risk of failure,” making it the only harbor with that status along the Great Lakes shorelines of Michigan. In June of 2017, the Corps announced its plans for the upcoming project, which essentially calls for the deteriorating concrete base of the channel to be replaced by steel sheet metal walls.
“Basically, most of the work the harbor commission has done over the last several years has been toward getting the channel rebuilt and the harbor dredged,” said Jim Mrozinski, chair of Onekama Township’s Portage Lake Harbor Commission. “It’s phenomenal that it’s finally getting done, and so good for Onekama.
“The whole community is based around the use of Lake Michigan and the channel that connects us to it. So, this is pretty exciting for all of us.”
The dredging contracts were awarded under the Corps’ Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) which the Detroit District established with 10 companies capable of dredging in the Great Lakes.
The MATOC is designed to provide greater flexibility and expedite the bid solicitation-award process for dredging in Great Lakes commercial shipping channels and harbors.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, maintains a navigation system of 91 harbors and four connecting channels, including the channels joining lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and Erie.
Source: News Advocate
