Detroit -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District (USACE) is currently utilizing 24-hour dredging in Grand Haven, Michigan during favorable weather to remove shoaling blocking Grand Haven Harbor from commercial traffic. The project is expected to be completed in mid-July.
Severe weather and minimal ice cover during the winter led to increased shoaling in several harbors on Lake Michigan this year, blocking large commercial vessel traffic. Grand River commercial docks are struggling to receive shipments due to the unexpected shoaling.
The King Co., Inc. of Holland, Michigan is on-site and contracted to clear 141,000 cubic yards of sand from the federal channel at Grand Haven, just beyond the pierheads. The material will be placed 7,000 to 10,000 feet north of the north pier onto the beach and into the nearshore area between the Ordinary High-Water Mark (OHWM) and the most-landward 12 feet depth contour in the lake. The placement area borders the Ottawa County North Beach Park and several properties along North Shore Drive.
The contract, awarded Feb. 28, required the work to begin in Holland and Grand Haven harbors when the weather allowed in the spring using hydraulic dredging for speed and cost. Unusually windy and wavy conditions during March and April delayed dredging work in Holland.