The Neabsco Creek dredging program in eastern Prince William County is officially underway, aiming to remove an estimated 17,000 cubic yards of silt clogging the channel.
“To put that in perspective, one cubic yard of saturated silt can typically weigh up to 3,000 pounds. That means 51 million pounds of soil or 25,500 tons of silt needs to be removed in order to maintain the channel and ensure that boats can continue to safely navigate the creek, ” according to a Prince William County Government official release.
It would take about 6,800 full-sized pickup trucks to haul away that much silt.
Neabsco Creek is a 13.9-mile-long tributary of the lower tidal segment of the Potomac River in eastern Prince William County, Virginia.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors recently allocated a $750,000 grant to dredge the channel and improve boat passage.
“The good news for the estimated 1,000 recreational boats that are docked and stored along Neabsco Creek near Leesylvania State Park is that the project will ensure that the channel remains navigable. The other good news is that the dredging recently started, meaning the work will be completed during the offseason so that boaters will be able to use the waterway connecting to the Potomac River during the next boating season, ” said the county government.
As the dredging continues, the silt will be loaded into containers aboard barges that will then be offloaded into dump trucks at a marina that is under construction near Neabsco Road. From there, the silt will be taken to the Prince William County Landfill Complex.
According to the agreement between the IDA and the Neabsco Creek, LLC, dredging must be completed no later than January 31, 2019.