OC Dredging Issues Examined At Hybrid Meeting This Week

The US Army Corps of Engineers along with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Worcester County will host a hybrid public meeting this week.

The session Tuesday will examine the navigation improvement project to address sediment accumulation in the Ocean City Inlet, and a study into the ‘scour hole’ near Homer Gudelsky Park. The meeting is Tuesday at the Worcester County Library Berlin Branch, starting with an open house at 6:30, and presentation and questions-and-answers beginning at seven.

According to the Corps, although the Inlet is dredged regularly to maintain authorized depth of ten feet for navigation, it continues to fill with material. Options for capping a 50-foot scour hole are also being examined.

The US Army Corps of Engineers provided additional details:

Virtual Public Meeting Details:

WebEx

• WebEx can be accessed at the following link: https://usace1.webex.com/meet/amber.c.metallo
  • From Webex, you can choose the “call me” option, and enter your phone number.

Phone

• If you are calling in on the phone only (and not using Webex), please use the following call-in information:
  • Toll free: 844-800-2712; Access Code: 1998594423; Security Code: 1234

USACE signed a project partnership agreement in 2019 with Maryland DNR and Worcester County for the Ocean City Harbor and Inlet navigation improvement project. In this 90 percent federally funded project, USACE evaluated sediment transport in the inlet and will recommend options to manage the shoaling, including channel realignment and extension of breakwaters on northwestern Assateague Island.

The study on the approximately 50-foot-deep scour hole is 100 percent federally funded. Field investigation has concluded on this effort, and the team has used modeling to evaluate sediment movement. The team is currently evaluating options for filling in or capping the scour hole.

For more info, visit the Ocean City Inlet project web page.