A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractor is staging equipment near La Push, Washington, in anticipation for upcoming dredging operations.
Portable Hydraulic Dredging, LLC, from Anchorage, Alaska, is scheduled to start September 29 on the $1.7 million project, USACE said. The company will dredge about 60,000 cubic yards, working until December, barring weather delays.
The dredging operations are extremely important to support U.S. Coast Guard Station Quillayute River which performs search-and-rescue operations from the marina located on the Quileute Indian Reservation, according to USACE.
The station’s area of responsibility covers 63 miles of Pacific Ocean coast and extends 50 nautical miles offshore. The dredging ensures continuous Coast Guard operations, allowing unfettered access of rescue vessels, said USACE.
The marina is also an important Quileute Tribe asset. Their reservation is an 800-year-old fishing village, which relies heavily on the marina and its access to the ocean.
The clean dredge material will be used for beach nourishment on Rialto Beach. Beach nourishment is the placement of the material on or near the beach, usually to re-nourish an eroding beach.
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