Two local dredge projects are moving ahead under funding from the Virginia Waterway Maintenance Fund—the Hole in the Wall channel between Milford Haven in Mathews and the Chesapeake Bay, and the channel in Gloucester’s Aberdeen Creek.
The Hole in the Wall channel dredge project is closer to becoming a reality in the near future. Curt Smith, deputy director of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, said it has already been put out for competitive negotiations and two companies have responded with their qualifications. Once it’s determined which bidder is the most qualified, he said, MPPDC will enter into negotiations for cost.
“It took almost a year to get the project permitted,” he said.
The project involves not just dredging the channel but also building breakwaters to protect it. There are seasonal restrictions on dredging tied to the sand shark breeding season, said Smith, so the channel will need to be dredged before June or the project will have to wait until fall. The...