The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, awarded a contract in the amount of $7.7 million to Orion Marine Construction Inc., for dredging of additional reaches of the Matagorda Ship Channel in Matagorda and Calhoun counties, Texas.
The contractor is required to remove approximately 3.6 million cubic yards of dredged material from the Matagorda Ship Channel (from Matagorda Peninsula to Point Comfort) and the intersection of the Matagorda Ship Channel and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) beginning June 2016 with an estimated completion date of November 2016.
“Maintenance dredging is required annually to provide adequate channel availability for ships navigating the Matagorda Ship Channel, ” said Aron Edwards, an operations manager in the USACE Galveston District’s Navigation Branch.
“All dredged material from the Matagorda Ship Channel will be placed in open-water, unconfined placement areas while the material from the intersection of the Matagorda Ship Channel and the GIWW will be used beneficially to nourish Sundown Island, a bird rookery island.”
According to Edwards, the contract will allow for the removal of approximately three million cubic yards of material from Matagorda Peninsula to Point Comfort and 629,000 cubic yards of material from the intersection of the Matagorda Ship Channel and the GIWW.
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