Posted on July 24, 2017
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com
Covington-based Weeks Marine Inc., one of the nation’s largest dredging companies, announced Wednesday (July 19) that it is building a new $60 million dredge, largely because of the increased demand caused by the state’s coastal restoration program.
The JS Chatry, named for senior vice president J. Stephen Chatry, is under construction at C&C Marine and Repair in Belle Chasse. The ocean-going dredge will use a 30-inch hydraulic cutter suction dredge to remove sediment and pump it inland to build wetlands. The dredge project was announced by company officials at Wednesday’s meeting of the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority in Chalmette.
The project represents the sixth new dredge the company has ordered since 2011, when it announced a $200 million plan to build only five new dredges. A $110 million 8,500-cubic-yard hopper dredge, the Magdalen, is being fitted for sea trials in anticipation of its christening in New York in the fall, company officials said.
“While the national coastal restoration and protection market is growing, we are especially optimistic about the market here in Louisiana,” said Richard Weeks, president of the company, in a news release.
Weeks Marine participated in several phases of the state’s Bayou Dupont marsh creation project, dredging sediment from the Mississippi River and sending it inland in Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes through a long distance pipeline to restore wetlands.
The JS Chatry will be 310 feet long and 72 feet wide, equipped with engines capable of producing 23,269 horsepower, including 3,000 horsepower on the cutterhead.
Source: NOLA
