"Even at a plus 17 or 18-foot tide, our fishermen couldn't get in the channel because the gravel had filled in the beach. So we called the Corps and they did an emergency scrape," said Hoyt.
A quick series of phone calls last week between Hoyt and officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game quickly set in motion a plan to dredge the narrow channel just north of the harbor's mouth.
Photo by Jeanie Brooking
Construction equipment operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers works Sunday to dredge a channel just outside the Ninilchik Harbor.
By Tuesday, they were finished and the Ninilchik fishing fleet was back at it.
"We moved about 1,000 yards out of the entrance channel, before the bend that goes into the harbor. We needed to get the harbor cleared to a plus 8 tide, which is the normal bottom of the channel," said Anderson.
The unusual timing of the scraping project -- during an active salmon run -- required clearance from Fish and Game, who approved the Corps' emergency request in a matter of hours, said Anderson.
"It was their call and they were very understanding. They felt that because it was short term, it would be OK to do it. They had to balance the usability for the fishermen there. All the work was done at low tide cycles so hopefully we're not affecting the fish as much," she said.
The gravel material dredged from the channel was piled on the beach near the front of the harbor and will be used by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities for future road and construction projects in the area.
The work will likely cost between $20,000 and $30,000 and will come out of the Corps' annual appropriation budget, added Anderson.
Aaron Selbig can be reached at aaronselbig.@homernews.com.
By last Saturday, the Corps had delivered a backhoe, a bulldozer and two loaders to the area, said Corps of Engineers project manager Julie Anderson. Workers from the Corps began the scraping operation the next day, digging out material from the channel and depositing it at a site on the south bank.
Story last updated at
8:49 PM on
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Ninilchik harbor gets 'emergency scrape' by Corps
By Aaron Selbig
Staff Writer
