GLDD Announces New Contracts Worth $261.3 Million
Houston-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation, the nation’s largest provider of dredging services, announced this month a whopping $261.3 million in new contract awards.
The largest share of that comes from a $139 million contract to complete the third phase of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project, a four-phase project to deepen the Port of Corpus Christi’s channel from 47 feet to 54 feet, widen the channel to 530 feet and add 400 feet of barge lanes. In the third phase of the project, Great Lakes will focus on deepening the Upper Bay Reach of the ship channel. GLDD expected to begin this phase of the project in the fourth quarter of this year and complete it in the first quarter of 2023. Great Lakes previously was awarded the first-phase contract. The Galveston Engineer District is the client for this project, which is funded by the federal government and the Port of Corpus Christi.
Great Lakes also announced receipt of a $24.3 million contract for furnishing a fully-crewed trailing suction hopper dredge for conducting maintenance dredging on the Lower Mississippi River at Southwest Pass and along the Calcasieu River. Work will commence in the fourth quarter of this year, with an estimated completion date of the first quarter next year. The New Orleans Engineer District is the client for this project, which is fully funded by the federal government.
A third recently awarded, navigation-related project was the Thimble Shoal East Deepening Project, a $38.4 million contract to dredge parts of the Thimble Shoal Federal Navigation Channel near Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Va. Some of the dredged material will be used beneficially for beach nourishment in the vicinities of Ocean View beach and Ocean Park. The Virginia Port Authority is the client for this project, which is funded by the state of Virginia and the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Great Lakes was also awarded a $47.5 million contract to dredge the Fire Island Inlet, near Long Island, N.Y., and place sediment on Gilgo Beach and at Robert Moses State Park. The placement of sand will armor portions of the Fire Island shoreline against storm surge, while dredging the inlet will benefit U.S. Coast Guard operations and public access. The New York Engineer District is the client for this project, which is largely funded by the federal government. Great Lakes expects work on this project to run during spring and summer of 2022.
Finally, Great Lakes announced a $12.1 million contract for the Cape May Inlet Beach Renourishment Project. Cape May is at the southern tip of New Jersey, with the Philadelphia Engineer District serving as the client for the project. Sand from two designated borrow areas will be placed on two beach locations near the Cape May Inlet. Great Lakes expects to complete this project by the end of the year.
“Great Lakes is pleased to add these projects to our backlog of deepening, coastal protection and maintenance dredging projects that will contribute to our 2021 performance and position us well for 2022,” said David Simonelli, chief operating officer for GLDD. “Great Lakes’ fourth quarter start of the Corpus Christi Upper Bay Project Phase 3 restarts the port and Corps channel deepening efforts after completion of Phase 1. These projects support the overall improvement and resiliency of our country’s environment, coastlines and infrastructure.”
