Big Dig about to start

Steve Crist prepares the dredge barge for Saturday’s opening act. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

It is long overdue. Siltation has filled in the access channel to depths of less than 3 feet in some spots.

For some boats, low or minus-tides almost always guarantee hitting bottom in the access channel, forcing fishermen to stay docked or at sea until it’s safe to move.

As important and long awaited as dredging of the federal channel has been, the fact that it is beginning just before the Dec. 1 start of commercial crab season has local officials expecting a busy harbor in the next couple months.

“I would rather have had the dredge come at a different time,” said Harbormaster Richard Young. “But our choice was dredging now, or no dredging this year. It’s just time to get it done.”

The channel is the only route crabbing vessels can use to go between the harbor and the sea, so the dredge will be operating around the clock in a very busy area, Young said.

“The channel is not that wide, but the dredge will be working on one side or another so boats will be able to pass,” Young said. “They will be sinking the pipe to keep the area as clear as possible.”

The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Young said that he has been in close contact with Pat Royce, the representative of AHTNA Engin­eering, the firm that received the corps’ contract for dredging Cres­cent City’s fed­eral channel.

“I’ve talked extensively with Pat and told him what to be aware of,” Young said. “They understand how important both crab season and dredging are for the area.”

Young said that the dredge, operated by Nehalem River Dredging, will begin running Saturday and will dredge around the clock until the job is done.

“We will  have a better idea after the first week of production,” Chesser said. “I’m not sure of the production rate because it’s a small pipeline.”

Much of the dredging about to start is due to an appropriations bill sponsored by Congressmen Mike Thompson, which brought the total amount of money available to the corps for the project to $4.35 million.

That should be enough, officials say, to dredge both the inner basin channel and the access channel to a depth of 15 feet, which is the depth required by design specifications.

According to Chesser, the corps anticipates moving about 55,000 cubic yards of material.

The dredge is basically a large vacuum cleaner.

Off the prow of the vessel is a large drill mounted so that it can be lowered to the bottom and perform like the brush of a vacuum, Young said.

The cutter head, essentially a giant drill to stir up silt that is then sucked up a pipe. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Young said that the dredge spoils from the corp’s operation are being deposited on the southeast side of the rocky island in “the elbow between the jetty and the Whaler Island causeway.”

Much of the deposited silt will end up adding sand to South Beach, Young said.

Chesser stressed how important it was for the public to keep a safe distance from the dredging operation.

“Not just vessels, but tourists and locals who might be out on Whaler Island should be careful to stay away from the outlet,” Chesser said.

Meanwhile a separate harbor dredging project, which has been operating since September, is well under way Young said.

“We are done with the inner boat basin mouth, and a majority of the dredging along the work dock,” Young said. “We will be moving the dredge over by Fashion Blacksmith Inc. next week.”