Here is my weekly Rhine Channel update for October 24 – 28.

Hi Everyone,

·        Please see the attached figure.  You’ll notice that we only have 2 small red boxes remaining, signifying that we’re almost done dredging!

·        This week, Dutra finished dredging the 15^th Street public pier and the public pumpout dock areas.  Because of the tight quarters at the public pier, they had to use the crane mounted clamshell bucket for most of the work in the dinghy area – a slow process. But they were successful, and the backside of the dock shouldn’t be sitting on the sand at extreme low tides.  The rest of the public dock area was dredged by the excavator which was more precise and productive.

·        With the American Legion marina completely removed, the excavator was able to quickly and efficiently dredge that area to the desired depth without any problems at all.  This process took about 2-3 days, and was only limited by the availability of empty scows.

·        Today, the American Legion marina was floated back to its original position and the pile driving operation began.  There’s 26 piles to be driven, so we’re hoping to be done by mid next week.  Vessels are not allowed back in the marina until the job is complete. Many thanks to American Legion Commander Jess Lawson and his team for assisting with this tricky operation.

·        As previously mentioned, there are two areas in the Rhine Channel that need to be re-dredged so that we can get to a nice clean sandy bottom. Dutra started dredging those areas today, and will finish early next week.  After that, dredging should be complete.

·        Minor dock repairs are still taking place along all of the Phases, so please be patient with the smaller issues that you may have at your respective docks.  Dutra will get to them before they demobilize in a few weeks.

·        Interesting fact No. 13:  In all, Dutra will have removed approximately 80,000 cubic yards of material from the Rhine Channel and other areas.  To give some perspective as to this volume, 80,000 cubic yards would cover a football field about 45 feet high!

Thanks for bearing with us during this project – we’re almost at the end!

Chris Miller

Harbor Resources Manager

( (949) 644-3043  * cmiller@newportbeachca.gov