Contract Awarded for Dredge and Cap on the Lower Rogue River

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $16 million contract to dredge and cap portions of the Lower Rouge River Old Channel (LRROC) in southwest Detroit, Michigan, to Great Lakes Dock and Materials (GLDM) of Michigan.

Dredging and capping the LRROC, an industrialized federal navigation channel, is part of a larger effort to restore the Rouge River Area of Concern through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). The Corps will oversee the work in the channel on behalf of the EPA. EPA administers the GLRI. The project is expected to be completed in June 2020.

The project includes installation of temporary shoreline protection to stabilize the shoreline during dredging, removal of approximately 70,000 cubic yards of sediments contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from 10 acres of river bottom and placing a cap in areas where dredging is not feasible. As part of the project, GLDM will remove large debris, including at least a dozen vehicles. After dredging, GLDM will restore the site.

The contract is the last phase of a multi-year effort that began in 2010, when EPA began working under a Great Lakes Legacy Act partnership with non-federal sponsor, Honeywell Inc., to investigate, design, and clean up a 0.75-mile stretch of LRROC.