Officials urge caution while The Fingers are dredged

2015-11-12FingersDredgingWEB

Dredging on the Port Isabel Fingers has begun. Boaters are urged to use caution. (Dina Arévalo | Staff photographer).

By DINA ARÉVALO
Port Isabel-South Padre Press
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com

Dredging of the Port Isabel Fingers has begun and officials are asking for boaters to use caution until the project is complete.

The dredging will occur 24 hours a day, according to a statement released by Interim City Manager Jared Hockema Friday. “The dredging will begin in the channel, and work toward the entrance. While dredging operations are underway, boaters are urged to use caution,” Hockema writes.

Mayor Joe E. Vega expressed thanks for the project’s undertaking. “This is great news for Port Isabel, and I thank Colonel Richard Pannell, Project Manager Seth Jones and the rest of the Corps staff in Galveston and Port Isabel for their hard work an assistance,” he said in the statement.

The project is expected to take approximately 15 days to complete, said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Resident Engineer Pablo Hernandez in an email to the City.

USACE has delegated the work to a private contractor. “The contractor will dredge approximately 30,000 cubic yards of material,” Hernandez writes. The dredge material will be deposited at a federal spoil site in the bay, “via a floating pipeline which will be marked with lighted orange or yellow buoys,” he writes.

 

Want the whole story? Pick up a copy of the Port Isabel-South Padre Press, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2015/11/13/officials-urge-caution-while-the-fingers-are-dredged/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.