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Board asks U.S. Army Corps to re‑dredge Ross Channel disposal mounds to deeper depth after vessel impacts
Summary
County waterways staff requested and the board approved a letter asking the U.S. Army Corps to address dredge‑placement mounds north of the federal Ross/Hatteras ferry channel; the request asks the Corps to deepen the mounds to a maximum of -9' mean low low water to reduce vessel strikes.
The board authorized a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asking the Corps to address dredge material placed north of the Ross and Hatteras ferry channels that has left disposal mounds shoal enough to cause vessel impacts. Barton, the county's grants and waterways administrator (speaker 28), said the Corps' pipeline contractor met the contract requirement to -5 feet mean low low water, but local mariners are encountering shallower mounds where the channel historically provided about 12 feet of depth.
Barton asked the board to cosign a letter requesting the Corps return and rework the placement area to a maximum depth of -9 feet mean low low water to reduce the risk to recreational and commercial mariners; the board approved sending the letter unanimously. "I'm just seeking approval for a letter cosigned by chairman Woodard and, our chairman, Steve Coulter, from the Waterways Commission to be submitted to the Corps," Barton said. Staff noted the Corps' contractor is gone from the immediate site and any additional dredging by the county would require separate permits, making Corps action the fastest remedy.
