Posted on August 18, 2025
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Northwestern Division – Seattle District (NWS) is hosting a Virtual Industry Day on 27 AUGUST 2025 to provide additional information and gain feedback from industry on the upcoming Willapa Harbor Maintenance Dredging project in Willapa Harbor, Washington. The Government is seeking qualified, experienced sources capable of performing this type of project.
The agency has been tasked to solicit for and award a construction contract to maintenance dredge the Bay Center, Nahcotta, and Tokeland Federal Navigation Channels to their authorized depths. Up to 180,000 CYis expected to be dredged across the three features via mechanical clamshell dredging. The minimum required dredging depth varies from -10 ft (Bay Center and Nahcotta) to -15 ft (Tokeland), MLLW, +2 ft overdepth at each location. In addition, dredging approximately 10,000 CY to a minimum depth of -9 ft MLLW (+1 ft overdepth) may be required in the Bay Center/Palix River Access Lane to ensure sufficient water depths for the dredge, scow, and tugboats to transit between Bay Center and the disposal sites. This amount has the potential to change due to the dynamic nature of the Palix River at its confluence with Willapa Bay.
Dredged material will be disposed via bottom dump scow at the Cape Shoalwater open-water dispersive disposal site or the South Channel open-water dispersive disposal site. Work is anticipated to begin in summer 2026. The work window varies by project features. For any given calendar year, the in-water work windows are as follows:
- Bay Center/Palix River: 16 Jul through 30 Sep
- Nahcotta: 16 Jul through 01 Feb
- Tokeland: 16 Jul through 15 Feb
Willapa Bay presents significant navigational hazards due to its exposed Pacific Ocean entrance, unmaintained channels, shifting shoals, and unpredictable weather. This performance window includes the worst season for storm and marine conditions. The U.S. Coast Guard has removed aids-to-navigation at Willapa Bar because of unreliable conditions, and their Waterways Analysis notes over 50 unreported groundings annually. These hazards present serious safety concerns for contractors and local users, complicating mobilization and dredging operations throughout the project area.
In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 36, the estimated construction price range for this project is: Between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000. Estimated duration of the dredging activities is 3-7 months.
The VIRTUAL Industry Day Event will take place on 27 August 2025 at 11:00 AM PDT via Microsoft Teams. Below is the link to attend this webinar.
https://dod.teams.microsoft.us/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Adod%3Ameeting_ff5464873ff6416fb1822488f8a5a2cd%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522fc4d76ba-f17c-4c50-b9a7-8f3163d27582%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%25225cb3aa4d-8770-4cff-98b2-d1a683592a19%2522%257d%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=addc7419-dc31-4a9f-97a2-192cb094757f&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true
Meeting ID: 993 814 531 787
Passcode: oq6AP9Xb
Dial in by phone
+1 503-207-9433,,485835812# United States, Beaverton
Find a local number
Phone conference ID: 485 835 812#
Please send the following information via email to Geraldine L. Kemp, Contract Specialist, at Geraldine.L.Kemp@usace.army.mil and Gabija Karosas, Project Manager, at Gabija.Karosas@usace.army.mil and reference the Virtual Willapa Bay Dredging in the subject line if you are interested in attending the virtual Industry Day.
Name of Company and Unique Entity ID (UEI)
Major Industry:
Prime or Sub
Small Business Program Inquiries:[GK7] [SB8] [GK9]
Enshane Hill-Nomoto
https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Business-With-Us/Small-Business/
Thank you for your interest in this USACE project.
