Repair of the dredge powering the south end beach replenishment project is taking longer than anticipated.
The Army Corps of Engineers had announced July 31, August 6, then August 9 or 10 for the pr0jected return to work of the hopper dredge Liberty Island. All those dates have passed with no sign of the ship.
Work is now tentatively scheduled to resume on Wednesday (Aug. 12), Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Richard Pearsall said on Monday morning.
The engine on the Liberty Island died on May 30 and the ship had been in port for seven weeks as it was replaced. It returned to Ocean City on July 20 for what was expected to be the restart of work. But the dredge broke again on its first test pump.
A reduction gearbox has to be repaired, and the Liberty Island is port in Norfolk, Va.
The delays have kept all Ocean City beaches open through the heart of the summer vacation season, but they’re also pushing the restart of work into the heart of hurricane season (though, as of Monday, there was no tropical activity anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean).
Work to rebuild eroded beaches between 37th and 59th streets in Ocean City began April 16 and was expected to be complete by mid-July. But the dredge has now been under repair for about 72 days after working for only 44 days.
The project is now expected to be complete at the end of September.
The hopper dredge is a ship that pumps sand into its hold from an offshore borrow area, then travels closer to Ocean City to hook up with a pipeline that feeds the new sand onto the beach.
Crews from the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of Oak Brook, Illinois have completed work between 37th Street and 47th Street. The current phase of the project started at 55th Street and was moving toward 47th Street when the dredge died at 52nd Street.
Work is scheduled to resume at 51st Street and move north toward 47th Street. But Pearsall said on Monday that the contractor may revisit certain areas that had been completed earlier to make sure they still fit the profile for the completed project (after 10 weeks of potential erosion).
The final phase of the project was scheduled to start at 55th Street and move southward to 59th Street.
When it’s done, Ocean City will have received approximately 1.6 million cubic yards of sand on approximately 2.5 miles of beach from 37th Street to 59thStreet. The $57 million project includes Strathmere and Sea Isle City, and is funded entirely by the federal government.
Bids on a renourishment project at the north end of the island are expected to be opened on Aug. 18 with a contract awarded within another two to three weeks. Specifications call for that work to be complete by March 1.
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