The channel at Davis Creek in the Bavon area of Mathews has become so shoaled-in after more than five decades without being dredged that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers derrick boat that was sent there recently to take borings for an upcoming dredge project got stuck.
Mathews Planning Commission member Harry Meeks said he was at Davis Creek Marina visiting owner Craig Mulligan when he saw the 104-foot-long Elizabeth get free and dock at the marina, and he spoke with the geological engineer overseeing the project. He said she told him the project, which would dredge an 80-foot-wide channel to a depth of 8 feet, would be done in 2025 or 2026. It will be the first time the federal channel has been dredged since 1971. The Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission is concurrently trying to move the project along under a contract with Mathews County.
The fact that there are serious efforts being made to dredge the channel is good news for Mulligan, who said if the channel isn’t dredged so...