Dredging project at the Marina del Rey harbor is expected to begin later this week, stated the Department of Beaches and Harbors. The works will deepen the entrances into the marina.
After it was last dredged in 1999, it is estimated that the marina took in about 1 million cubic yards of sediment from the surrounding beach and creek areas, thus making it shallow at the mouth of the harbor, reports MarinadelReyPatch.
Paula Lee, the dredge that will perform all the work, is scheduled to arrive in the harbor on Wednesday afternoon. About 75,000 and 140,000 cubic yards of clean sand from the dredging will be transported to Redondo Beach and Dockweiler State Beach, respectively.
Polluted soil, which makes up about two-thirds of the sediment and contains toxic chemicals, will fill the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project. This will be a nine-year, $1.2 billion upgrade that will improve air quality and cargo accessibility by combining two aged shipping terminals in the Port of Long Beach into one.
According to Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, 14,000 jobs will be created by the port expansion, and about $85 million and 42,000 truck trips that would have been necessary to dump the sediment at inland sites will be saved.
Costs of the project will be divided so that the county will pay $5.3 million and the Corps of Engineers will contribute $7.7 million. Long Beach is expected to pay to move about 100,000 cubic yards of material. These contributions will cover only half of the dredging work.
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Dredging Today Staff, April 4, 2012;