HOLLAND, Mich. — This weekend dredging will begin in the outer harbor in Holland to remove around 31,000 cubic yards of sediment from the federal navigation channel.
Dredging is the process of cleaning out the bed of a body of water using a dredge, which is specialized machinery created to act as a vacuum. The dredge sucks up and pumps out unwanted sediment and debris.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, is dredging the federal navigation channel because the natural process of sand and silt washing downstream will eventually fill channels and harbors.
Through dredging, the depth of the federal navigation channel can be maintained so that boats and ships can have safe passage.
According to the Rivers and Harbors Act, USACE must maintain project depths of 23 feet at the harbor entrance and 21 feet in the inner channel and Lake Macatawa.
The King Co., based in Holland, was given a $901,885 contract to hydraulically dredge Holland and Grand Haven this spring. Both harbors are expected to be dredged by May 31.
“Maintaining commercial traffic to Holland is an important part of our maintenance dredging in West Michigan,” said Liz Newell Wilkinson, the operations manager at the Grand Haven Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District. “Keeping the shipping channel open provides a receiving port for the city and a safe harbor of refuge for vessels seeking shelter on Lake Michigan.”
The sediment that's dredged in Holland will be relocated through nearshore placement. This means the sediment will be piped offshore to the 8-12 foot-deep lake bottom.
The state-permitted area for sediment placement starts 1,200 feet south of the south breakwater and continues for approximately 4,500 feet.
There are more than 6.5 miles of maintained federal channel in the Holland Harbor, which is a deep draft commercial harbor.
While the dredging takes place, the public is asked to avoid areas actively being dredged and follow all posted warning signs.
There will be lights and signs marking the discharge pontoon in the nearshore area.
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