The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, is revising its proposal for maintenance dredging of portions of the Milford Harbor Federal Navigation Project in Milford, Conn.
The proposed work involves removal of approximately 14,000 cubic yards of sandy material from portions of the 10-foot entrance channel of the Federal navigation project in Milford Harbor.
The city of Milford has requested this dredging and is the local sponsor for this proposed work.
A public notice was issued by the Corps for this proposed work on September 24, 2015. While the dredging site, amount and method remains the same as outlined in that notice, the nearshore disposal site off Bayview Beach has been shifted to the north and east in order to avoid shellfish beds.
“Natural shoaling processes and storm events have reduced available depths in the 10-foot-deep entrance channel in Milford Harbor to as shallow as –1 foot mean lower low water, ” said Project Manager Jack Karalius, of the Corps’ New England District, Programs and Project Management Division in Concord, Mass.
“Given these conditions and current vessel drafts, shoaling within the project is limiting safe navigation.”
Without dredging, channel conditions will continue to deteriorate, which will deter and/or interfere with the use of the river and harbor by recreational and commercial vessels.
Contingent upon receiving the necessary approvals, maintenance dredging will be completed using the government-owned special purpose dredge, the Currituck, or a similar dredge. The dredged material will be placed in the nearshore environment, in an area approximately 3,200 feet long by 800 feet wide, off of Bayview Beach in Milford, approximately one mile to the east.
The Corps favors using the nearshore placement areas option because it is environmentally-sound, cost-effective and keeps the clean sediments in the littoral system.
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