The Liberty Island is “sailing tonight” … or at least that’s the latest update on Wednesday afternoon from the Army Corps of Engineers on the long-awaited return of the dredge powering the beach replenishment project at the southern end of Ocean City.
Work on the project is expected to resume on Thursday (Aug. 13), according to Army Corps spokesman Richard Pearsall.
The dredge has been in port for repairs in Norfolk, Va., for more than two months. The Army Corps had announced July 31, August 6, August 9 or 10, then August 12 for the pr0jected return to work of the hopper dredge Liberty Island. All those dates passed with no sign of the ship.
The Liberty Island is a hopper dredge, a ship that pumps sand into its hold from an underwater borrow area, then travels closer to Ocean City to hook up with a pipeline that feeds the new sand onto the beach. The ship is owned and operated by an outside contractor, the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of Oak Brook, Ill.
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.
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 Wednesday, 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 74 days after working for only 44 days.
The project is now expected to be complete at the end of September.
