A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge arrived in Humboldt Bay one month ahead of schedule Friday to begin the emergency removal of problematic sediment at the bay’s dangerous entrance.

The Yaquina, a hopper dredge, is scheduled to perform approximately 30 days of maintenance dredging to remove the sand and sediment to return the deep-water port’s channel entrance to a depth to 48 feet, said David Hull, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and
Conservation District’s chief executive officer.

“It’s critically important for commerce and safe navigation,” Hull said.

The dredging operations could be extended, according to Hull, who briefed the Harbor District board of commissioners during its regular meeting Thursday night.

Winter storms and ocean currents normally move sediment and sand up and down the coast, but the area just off of the South Jetty tends to accumulate more sand.

The shallower areas caused by the shoaling magnify waves at the already dangerous and narrow channel entrance, which has resulted in some shipping draft restrictions this year.

Although the emergency work to fix the shoaling is its first priority, Hull said the Portland, Ore.-based Army Corps dredge may also begin the “street-sweeping” work of the port’s federally maintained interior shipping channel if time permits.

Hull said the Harbor District is pursuing a long-term fix for the shoaling problem to alleviate the need for the annual removal of the sediment. (See Port-Rail Grant, Page A7.)

The Army Corps completed the pre-dredging survey in the past few weeks to map the bay’s channels to allow the Yaquina’s crew to better know where to focus its dredging efforts in upcoming dredging work.

No specific safety warnings have been issued yet to advise mariners if navigation through the bay will be impaired as a result of the dredging work, but Coast Guard Station Humboldt Bay operations personnel said Friday afternoon that a broadcast may go out when
dredging operations are being conducted in upcoming days.

The Army Corps’ larger hopper dredge Essayons, which is expected to arrive as early as mid-April to conduct an additional 20-30 days of maintenance dredging, is being overhauled to install new engines.

A replacement dredge has been contracted by the Army Corps to complete the dredging while the Essayons is out of commission.