La Conner Marina/Port Skagit
Dredging at La Conner Marina, a part of the Port of Skagit in Washington, began September 24. The project will remove 135,000 cubic yards of sediment to restore the basin to depths of -12 feet at mean lower low water. The marina has accumulated sediment from the Swinomish Channel losing between 3 to 6 feet of depth since it was last dredged in 2005. The basin needs to be cleared of sediment approximately every 10 years.
Along with dredging, work will also include the temporary relocation of two boat houses in the North Basin and replacement of damaged timber float piles with steel plats. Continuous bathymetric surveys will also be completed to monitor progress of the dredging.
The project is being overseen by port project management staff and the port’s project engineer with Geo Engineers Inc.
Pacific Pile & Marine of Washington was awarded the contract. The company is using shallow draft hydraulic dredging equipment to enable more precise dredging needed to work between piers and docks. The dredge is equipped with RTK-GPS. The removed material will be placed at open-water disposal site in Rosario Strait off the shore of Anacortes.
La Conner Marina has two separate moorage basins covering approximately 24 acres. This first part of the dredging project will be the south basin with work expected to run to February 2019. Under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit, dredging cannot occur between February 15 and July 15 to protect fish habitat, so the entire dredge project is expected to take three years.
