The Masons Inlet maintenance dredging program began on Friday, January 11, according to luminanews.com.
“Typically, we have to do maintenance about every two to three years. We keep the inlet locationally stable so the folks at Shell Island [Resort] don’t have to worry about the inlet migrating under that building. It’s 3,000 feet away from them. Then the material that’s taken out of it is put onto the beaches of Figure Eight, so we help protect the homes up on that side, ” stated Engineer Chris Gibson, of Gahagan and Bryant Associates Inc.
This maintenace dredging work is being done 24 hours per day in rotating 12-hour shifts.
The dredging program is being conducted with The Chesapeake, a new dredger that will shorten the length of the project to about 45 days, reports luminanews.com.
“ The Chesapeake is a 24-inch portable dredge, so right now that’s probably the largest that’s able to dredge this shallow a channel,” Gibson said. “ In the past, the dredges that have done the work have all been 16-inch dredges. So now we’ve got a 24-inch class dredge, we have more horsepower. The production is a lot more so they’re able to move sand faster. Typically, this project would be closer to 90 days, so we’ve cut the duration almost in half .”
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Dredging Today Staff, January 25, 2013; Image: norfolkdredging