GLDD Wins Miami Deepening Contract

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) announced on May 16 that it had been awarded a $122 million contract to deepen Miami Harbor. The project is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of this year and will deepen Miami’s shipping channel to 50 feet. The Corps of Engineers awarded the base work for this project which includes deepening the offshore entrance channel. Option work involving the deepening of the inner channels to provide access to the port’s berthing areas is expected to be awarded by January 31 2014. These options if awarded will bring the value of the project to $206 million.

The Miami deepening project will take place in the environmentally sensitive waters of one of the busiest ports in the United States. Seagrass and coral resource health monitoring and water quality and sedimentation measurement activities are important components of the project. Great Lakes stated that the company and its environmental partners will implement project-specific safety procedures. Great Lakes will be working under the Corps Jacksonville District and collaborating with other project stakeholders including the Port of Miami and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

David Simonelli president of Dredging Operations for Great Lakes said “We will employ the heavy-duty rock cutter suction dredge Texas specifically designed for excavating the hard limestone found in Miami and other East Coast ports. This is one of the most powerful vessels in its class. We have assembled a team of world-class environmental partners to assist in the seagrass and coral mitigation components of the project as well as the extensive daily environmental monitoring. We expect to employ more than 300 crew and staff on the project.”

Jonathan Berger chief executive officer stated that the company looks forward to performing this challenging project and that GLDD has the capability of delivering the deepening on schedule and on budget.