DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997              TAG: 9703270370

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B12  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: OYSTER                            LENGTH:   48 lines

REALIGNED WATERWAY TO SAVE MILLIONS IN DREDGING COSTS

The Army Corps of Engineers is going to move part of the Delaware Bay/Chesapeake Bay Waterway off the Eastern Shore. They expect the move to save taxpayers $4.7 million in dredging costs over the next 50 years.

The realigned waterway will be safer for watermen, say corps officials, and might even build new oyster grounds.

``We try to create a situation that benefits everyone,'' said project manager Doug Stamper.

Currently, the waterway twists through Gull and Eckichy marshes off the coast of Northampton County. That part of the channel silts quickly, said Stamper, forcing the corps to dredge it every two or three years.

``It was causing our costs to go up,'' he said.

They looked for alternatives, and decided to realign the waterway through nearby Ramshorn Channel. That channel is deeper, closer to land and already a preferred route for watermen. It will only need dredging every five to eight years, saving money.

``That's what it's all about now, I guess,'' said Stamper.

The Norfolk District office of the Corps maintains 83 miles of waterway through the Eastern Shore's seaside marshes. Watermen use these channels to go from port to port - Wachapreague to Willis Wharf, for example - because it's safer than going out into the ocean. The Coast Guard uses them for search and rescue missions.

Twenty shoals on the waterway need dredging on a regular basis to keep them 60 feet wide and 6 feet deep. The Corps dredges two or three each year, spending about $1 million annually on contractors, maps and environmental coordination. ``We typically can't do everything we need to do in a year,'' said Stamper.

The Ramshorn project will cost between $250,000 and $500,000. The Corps will use a hydraulic dredge to lift 2,700,000 cubic feet of bottom and dump it nearby in open water. When and if the mound gets tall enough to peek above water at low tide, it will be suitable for use as oyster grounds.

Stamper said the corps recently received a permit for the project from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, and expects a permit from the Department of Environmental Quality in the next three to five weeks. Dredging is expected to begin in October. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic by John Earle/The Virginian-Pilot

Boat Channel to be Realigned KEYWORDS: DREDGE BOAT CHANNEL CHESAPEAKE BAY

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu