Harbor Resources Manager, Chris Miller, stated that the deadline for completing the Newport harbor dredging project has been missed due to complications, and now the Newport Beach officials have until June to get the next project phase underway, reports Daily Pilot.
Approximately 350,000 cubic yards of silt and mud were targeted late last year for removal from the harbor and the removed material was to be transported for disposal to the Port of Long Beach by March 14.
Miller explained that one of these complications involved the Army Corps of Engineers not being able to award the $6.5-million project to a contractor in time for the deadline. The new deadline is now set for June 30.
Greg Fuderer, spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles Division, said that a contractor has been identified, but the contract will not be awarded for another couple of weeks, adding that the name of that contractor cannot be revealed until the contract is awarded.
The delay occurred when it was realized that the federal funding would only secure about $4 million of the project, thus leaving the city to cover the rest.
Initially, the project was to be completed before the boating season began, but now dredging will occur through the heart of summer and possibly through its end, Miller said.
[mappress]
Dredging Today Staff, March 21, 2012;