Port Orange dredging project inches ahead

Project Updates - February 8, 2010

The News Journal reports that city officials in Port Orange in the US will shortly determine whether dredging the B-23 canal can proceed alongside the final segment of the Rose Bay clean-up project.

Excavating material from the canal is designed to complement the dredging of the bay, which is the last component of an almost 20-year restoration plan for the polluted waterway.

Officials have said that doing the two projects within close timing of each other will help save money with equipment mobilization costs.

The US Army Corps of Engineers' contractor is completing construction of the spoil containment site and the dredge pipe should be pulled from Rose Bay to the spoil site this week.

Dredging should start within the next six weeks to remove 152,000 cubic yards of soft sediments, said a spokesman from the St Johns River Water Management District, one of several agency partners in the project.

"Removing the maximum amount of sediment from the canal to prevent it from flushing back into the bay, however, depends on how many Harbor Oaks residents sign legal agreements with the city," said the report. "Now that the deadline has passed, city staff has reported receiving 30 out of about 33 contracts with the canal-front property owners along East Bayshore Drive and Cedar Street. "

The city has budgeted to pay for the full cost of the dredge but won't replace privately owned seawalls or structures. The contractor needs at least 22ft of canal width to manoeuvre dredging equipment and many of the properties have deteriorating docks and seawalls that might not hold up during the dredging.

Those problematic structures prompted the city to seek "hold harmless" agreements that relieve the city of liability if something happens to the structures, but also protects owners from gross negligence.