The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Buffalo District has awarded Michigan-based Great Lakes Dock and Materials a US$7.3 million contract for sediment removal and breakwater works at Barcelona Harbor, New York.
The USACE announced the award on Tuesday, October 6. The contract is fully federally funded, with work scheduled to begin in the summer of 2027 and finish that same year.
Waves and storms carry sediment over the harbour’s West Breakwater into the federal navigation channel, the USACE said. The resulting shoals obstruct vessel access and can cause boats to run aground.
Crews will remove accumulated sediment from the lakeward side of the breakwater before installing a wave-absorbing stone overlay.
The USACE said the overlay is intended to cut wave energy and lower overtopping by 90 per cent, limiting sediment entering the channel.
Removed material will be placed at a nearshore site on the eastern side of the harbour, near Ottaway Park. The USACE said this will nourish the shoreline down-drift of the harbour and improve coastal resilience.
The Buffalo District’s March 2026 environmental assessment provides for removal of up to 40,000 cubic yards (31,000 cubic metres) from the western fillet or shoreline of the West Breakwater. Littoral transport is expected to replace the removed sediment over a period of three to seven years.
The assessment specifies a stone overlay with a 2:1 slope and a crest 11 feet (3.4 metres) above Lake Erie low water datum. It covers 650 feet (200 metres), with tie-ins extending its maximum total length to 800 feet (240 metres) and a maximum width of 60 feet (18 metres).
The USACE said advanced maintenance dredging in 2025 removed an estimated 21,000 cubic yards (16,000 cubic metres), providing space for the planned sediment removal and overlay. Dredging in 2023 removed 65,000 cubic yards (50,000 cubic metres).
Channel dredging is undertaken infrequently and depends on need and available funding.
Barcelona Harbor is a shallow-draught recreational harbour and Great Lakes harbour of refuge on Lake Erie, protected by east and west breakwaters.
Its authorised navigation depths are 10 feet (three metres) below low water datum in the entrance channel and eight feet (2.4 metres) in the inner harbour.
