USA: Army Corps Completes Rudee Inlet Emergency Dredging

Rudee Inlet, a man-made inlet sited along one of Virginia Beach’s most dynamic shorelines, was recently dredged as a result of shoaling from Hurricane Sandy.

In the wake of the tropical storm, the city of Virginia Beach requested the Corps conduct emergency dredging of Rudee Inlet because of significant shoaling. The cost of the six-day dredging by the Wilmington, N.C.-based Corps dredge Merritt was approximately $80,000. The city’s cost-share was 28% and the federal cost was 72%, according to Kristin Mazur, the Corps’ project manager for Rudee Inlet dredging operations.

Shoaling, or the buildup of mounds of sand underwater that can snag boats, occurs regularly and creates the need for dredging to keep the route to and from the Atlantic Ocean open.

The dredge arrived off the Virginia Beach coastline Saturday, Nov. 10 and leaves today after working six, 12-hour days. Approximately 9,000 cubic yards of sand was dredged using a side-cast and placed adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean inlet.

The Merritt is a 100-foot vessel, and has been dredging the 150-foot-wide channel. It’s a shallow-draft dredge able to get into water that bigger vessels can’t reach.

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Press Release, November 16, 2012