PortMiami's "Deep Dredge" project has entered a new phase with commencement this week of the dredging that will deepen the port's main harbour channel to a depth of 15 metres.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is managing the project that will be completed in approximately 18 months – the same time that the expanded Panama Canal is scheduled to open.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, the selected contractor for the project, began mobilising dredging equipment this week, including the hopper dredger 'Terrapin Island'. The dredger has commenced dredging operations in the Port's outer channel.
The project includes the restoration of more than 16 acres of seagrass in Biscayne Bay and the creation of nine acres of artificial reef. In order to minimise impact on existing resources, the Port's mitigation measures include the relocation of hard coral colonies.
Additionally, divers will be onsite to monitor natural resources for turbidity and sedimentation effects before and during all dredging activities.
The excavation will result in the removal of approximately 1,605,565 cubic metres of material. Materials not used to create the environmental mitigation sites will be transported to the ocean dredged material disposal site.