Dredging of Murderkill River in August
DNREC and the Army Corps of Engineers will begin an emergency dredging project in August to restore navigability in the Murderkill River in Kent County. About 52,000 cubic yards of sediment will be removed from the river’s navigation channel – and the dredged sand will then be used to nourish up to 1000 feet of eroding shoreline at South Bowers Beach. Funding for the project is through the 2022 and 2023 Bond Bills. The project is expected to start on or about August 1st.
The Murderkill River is a federally-authorized navigation project that requires periodic dredging to maintain the safety and navigable access to the river, critically important to commercial and emergency vessels as well as recreational boating. The river forms the southern boundary of the Town of Bowers – a popular boating area with its docks, DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife-owned boat launch and large parking area – before flowing into the Delaware Bay.
In early 2022, DNREC removed sand from the Murderkill Inlet’s navigation channel but was limited by having to use a land-based excavator, and navigation continued to be challenge at low tide, especially in the mile-long approach channel to the Inlet. Nautical dredging equipment to be deployed next month will deepen the channel. An onshore staging area, made possible through a temporary construction easement agreement between DNREC and the South Bowers Volunteer Fire Company, will help facilitate the project. Dredging will be carried out by Cottrell Contracting Corp. of Chesapeake, Va., with almost a century-long record of Eastern Seaboard infrastructure dredging.
With the project expected to start on or about Aug. 1, the U.S. Coast Guard soon will give notice for mariners to exercise caution and maintain safe distance from the dredging activity – to include floating and submerged pipelines in the Murderkill, and the dredge and support vessels in the area. The USCG also advises that commercial fishing nets, crab pots and other structures removed from the dredging area before work begins.
