The dredging of the outer harbor in St. Joseph has started for the year. St. Joe City Manager John Hodgson tells WSJM News the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started this week and should be finished by the end of the weekend.
“The army Corps of Engineers task is to clear the shipping channel,” Hodgson said. “Right now, they’re working on what’s called the outer harbor, the area between the piers and in the lake beyond the end of the piers. That material is suitable to be placed on the shoreline. As they’ve done for many years, they’re placing it behind the houses on Lions Park Drive.”
Hodgson says the Army Corps will pull out a lot of sand.
“They believe they’ll have about 29,000 cubic yards of material to place on the beach,” Hodgson said.
Hodgson says the dredging is not only important for keeping the harbor open for commercial shipping, but it also replenishes and stabilizes the beaches. Congressman Fred Upton says the work is possible thanks to a bipartisan effort to maintain the Great Lakes Navigation Operations and Maintenance budget.
Photo courtesy of the office of Congressman Fred Upton.
