MUSKEGON, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, June 9, 2022) – The Holland firm contracted with dredging commercial harbors along Lake Michigan in this region could be busy this weekend.
Depending on the weather – and forecasters say that storms could roll in after midnight on Sunday – King Company crews could start clearing out the Muskegon Harbor as early as Friday. The work was slated for later this year, but some urgency occurred in late April when a commercial bulk carrier ran aground on a sand bar at the harbor’s entrance. Survey results showed “considerable shoaling,” ranging from 18 to 27 feet before low water datum.
According to US Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Col. Scott Katalenich, the Detroit District Commander, “We were notified of the grounding on April 29, and to get all of the pieces in place and award (the nearly $1 million contract) on June 2 is just phenomenal. We were anticipating it would take until late June, but the team really hit this out of the park.”
The diversion of King crews north from Grand Haven, where they had been working, will delay dredging of South Haven and St. Joseph harbors slated for this month until later this summer. The Muskegon project will clear out an estimated 126,500 cubic yards of material and place it as nearshore nourishment material in the area, similar to what has already been done in the Holland and Grand Haven harbors.
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