Ocean City Inlet dredging to target shoaling
An "inlet," according to one dictionary, is a "place or means of entry."
The Ocean City Inlet hasn't been living up to that definition since a powerful nor'easter from Jan. 22-24 poured thousands of cubic yards of sand into its channel. But that may be about to change.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking to begin dredging the channel by the end of the first week of March, said spokesman Chris Gardner. The project was already in the works, but the schedule was moved up to help improve navigation in the wake of the winter storm.
“We’ve heard from folks and understand there’s shoaling in the Inlet," Gardner said, referring to the process of waters growing shallower.
People flock to Ocean City to assess storm damage
An estimated 15,000 cubic yards of material need to be dredged to return the channel to its authorized depth of 10 feet, Gardner said. The work in early March should remove about 10,000 cubic yards, and a separate routine dredging project scheduled for later in the month should bring the total closer to that goal.
Large commercial fishing vessels have been struggling to get in and out of their harbor since the storm.
The epicenter of the complaints has been between green buoy No. 11 and red buoy No. 12, where shoaling has reduced depths to under 6 feet in some spots, Gardner said. The depths vary throughout the main channel; near the ocean entrance, for example, it dives down to 18 feet below the surface.
For his part, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris applauded the Corps' actions.
“Shoaling is severely impacting the local economy and livelihood of commercial watermen, while also creating safety issues for both commercial and recreational boaters," he said. “It’s a win for the area to have the Army Corps of Engineers begin dredging in Ocean City ... and I commend them for working with us to make it happen.”