The Army Corps hopper dredge Currituck has arrived in Ocean City, Maryland, for routine maintenance dredging of the Inlet navigation channel.
According to Brittany Crissman from the Corporate Communication Office of the Baltimore District, dredge Currituck arrived in Ocean City over the weekend and has begun dredging in the inlet.
“ The Currituck is scheduled to work in the area for about a month, with about 25 days focused on Assateague Bypass work and about 5 days focused specifically on dredging shoaling hotspots in the inlet channel, ” said Brittany Crissman . “ Crews will be placing dredged material just south of the inlet offshore of Assateague Island where it counteracts erosion .”
Assateague bypass work involves removing material from both in and around the channel, with an emphasis on the ebb and flood shoals – mitigating impacts to natural sediment transport caused by the Ocean City Inlet and its jetties.
The dredging is federally funded, and the work in the inlet is financed by the Army Corps’ Operation and Maintenance (O&M) funds, while the Assateague bypass work is cost-shared 50/50 with the National Park Service.