Posted on July 31, 2026
ONTONAGON, MI — A western Upper Peninsula harbor that requires almost annual dredging will be cleared again this fall under a $1.6 million federal contract.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to dredge Ontonagon Harbor from mid-September through October, removing accumulated sediment from the channel at the mouth of the Ontonagon River.
The work is part of a $1.64 million contract awarded May 27 to Viking Marine Construction LLC of Holland. The contract also includes dredging at Port Wing and Cornucopia harbors in Wisconsin.
“This dredging work is essential for maintaining safe and reliable navigation channels for commercial and recreational boaters,” Monica Anderson, an Army Corps project engineer, said in a statement. “By removing accumulated sediment, we ensure these harbors remain accessible and continue to support the local economies.”
The Corps did not specify how much sediment will be removed from Ontonagon under the contract. An agency planning document estimates roughly 40,000 cubic yards must be dredged from the harbor annually to maintain authorized depths.
Ontonagon was last dredged in 2024.
Hydraulic equipment will pump the dredged sediment through a pipeline and place it in shallow water northeast of the harbor.
Ontonagon is a deep-draft harbor with about 4,000 feet of maintained channel and more than 4,800 feet of federal piers, revetments and other structures. It also serves as the only small craft harbor of refuge along the roughly 79-mile stretch of Lake Superior shoreline between the Keweenaw Waterway and Black River Harbor.
Without regular dredging, sediment buildup reduces channel depths, limits boating access and inhibits efforts to attract new commercial harbor users, according to the Army Corps.
The fall project will not address larger infrastructure concerns.
The Corps says the navigation structures need repairs and local officials have raised concerns that they may be contributing to worsening wave conditions inside the harbor and shoreline erosion outside it.
Federal officials received $1.48 million in fiscal 2025 funding for engineering and design work on those repairs, including an evaluation of wave conditions. Additional federal funding would be needed for construction.
Viking Marine is tentatively scheduled to begin work at Port Wing in mid-to-late August, followed by Cornucopia in September and Ontonagon through October. The contract completion date is Oct. 31.
