USACE Awards Contract for KVK Deepening

In what is considered to be the biggest dredging project ever undertaken in New York Harbor, the USACE New York District awarded a $23.6 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. It is the first contract of eight to be awarded for Phase II of the $750 million Kill van Kull and Newark Bay Channels deepening project. The cost-shared project with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will deepen the federal channels to 45 ft. from their current depth of 40 ft. The contract awarded calls for dredging on the New York side of Constable Hook, Bayonne, N.J. Notice to proceed will be issued subject to government acceptance of performance bonds and a safety plan from Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co., which is headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill. For this contract, construction should be completed in 18 months or no later than Sept. 6, 2000. It is estimated for this contract, 233,000 cu. yds. of hard rock will be dredged and disposed of at an artificial reef off East Rockaway and 260,000 cu. yds. of non-rock material will be placed at the Historic Area Remediation Site approximately six miles off the coast of Sandy Hook, N.J. The USACE is paying 75 percent of the project's costs and the Port Authority is paying the balance. For this contract, the USACE is paying $17.7 million, and the Port Authority, the remaining $5.9 million.