30-day Inlet dredging project underway

Some Historic City News readers have been bewildered by the conspicuous continuing absence of El Galeon Andalusia, previously docked at the municipal marina. Yesterday, another odd-looking vessel was seen in its place, so we investigated.

Using the registration, we determined that the vessel “Murden” is operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. We contacted General Services Director Jim Piggott to determine the origin of the vessel.

“Murden is here to dredge our inlet from now until August 31, 2015 — on a 24-hour per day, seven-day per week basis until the end of August,” Piggott said. “It will not be at our dock very much; except to take on fuel, supplies, or to make repairs.”

The crew is focusing their efforts on the “dog leg” that developed in the channel several years ago. The Army Corps 1obtained permits to place the dredge material “near shore” adjacent to the southerly critically eroded section in Vilano Beach.

Subject to weather or other unexpected equipment problems, the plan is to remove 100,000-150,000 cubic yards of sand from the inlet channel and to place it just outside the breakers at Vilano Beach. They also plan to monitor this material placement going forward to determine how it reacts to storms and currents.

According to Piggott, the Federal Government is providing $2,000,000 of funding for this activity; however, there are no guarantees or assurances that federal funding will be available in the future.