The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, is proposing maintenance dredging of the Kennebunk River Federal Navigation Project (FNP) in Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, Maine. The proposed work involves urgently needed maintenance dredging to remove various shoals in the authorized 8-foot-deep entrance channel of the FNP.
“ These shoals are primarily the result of coastal storms, including Storm Sandy in October 2012, and natural shoaling,” said Project Manager Jack Karalius, of the Corps’ New England District, Programs/Project Management Division . “ These shoals are creating hazardous conditions, especially for the commercial fishing vessels that are based in the harbor.”
A recent hydrographic survey indicates that a portion of the channel edge is exposed at low water, and in another portion, the channel has shoaled to depths of -5.5 feet mean lower low water (MLLW) across the entire width of the channel. The proposed work involves removal of about 22,000 cubic yards of clean, fine sand to return the 8-foot channel of the FNP to its authorized dimensions. Dredged material will be placed at a previously used nearshore placement site, off Gooch’s Beach, located outside the channel. Use of the nearshore placement site keeps the clean sandy sediments in the littoral zone.
Contingent on receiving the necessary approvals, the work will be performed during a two- to three-week period between approximately Nov. 1 and March 31. Maintenance dredging will be performed using a Government-owned, special purpose (hopper) dredge or similar-type dredge. The last time the harbor was dredged was in 2005 when about 53,000 cubic yards of sand and silt were mechanically removed from the channel and anchorage area. The towns of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, the project local sponsors, have requested the dredging.
The proposed work is being coordinated with: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; National Marine Fisheries Service; Maine Department of Environmental Protection; Maine Department of Marine Resources; Maine State Planning Office; Maine Historic Preservation Office; the Penobscot Nation; and the towns of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.
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Press Release, October 2, 2013