The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, has awarded a contract for maintenance dredging of the Ontonagon Harbor.
King Company, Inc. from Holland, Michigan, was awarded a more than $1.1 million contract to dredge the federal channel in the Ontonagon Harbor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The contractor will remove approximately 132,300 cubic yards of shoal material from the Federal navigation channel. Material from the dredging project will be placed along the shoreline beginning at the East Pier, then extending 4000 feet easterly for beach nourishment.
“ This contract to dredge the federal channel in Ontonagon Harbor is important to keeping this navigation project open to vessel traffic and possible revitalization of commercial navigation ,” said Dave Wright, chief of operations, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District .
The harbor was last dredged in 2016. The current project will be completed in 2019.
Ontonagon Harbor, Michigan is located about 140 miles east of Duluth, Minnesota, on the south shore of Lake Superior, at mouth of the Ontonagon River. The channel ranges from 21 feet to 30 feet deep at various locations throughout the 4,000 feet channel.
A lack of funding for regular maintenance dredging has inhibited development of new commercial users of the harbor. The harbor also provides the only refuge for small craft between the Keweenaw Waterway upper entrance and Black River Harbor.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, maintains a navigation system of 91 harbors and four connecting channels, including the channels joining lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and Erie.