Dredging Schedule

During dredging operations, the typical work schedule is 24 hours a day, six or seven days a week.
Each day will consist of two 12-hour shifts to mitigate possible problems over a single shift:

• Working at night will reduce the effects of bridge openings on local traffic.
• Approximately half of all bridge openings will occur at night.
• Keeping the dredge barge constantly staffed prevents the need to move on- and off-station each day.
• This increases the work-time versus move-time ratio, increasing the productivity of each crew.

Dredging commenced in November 2012 with the dredging of 24,000 cubic yards (CY) in Reach 12 adjacent to the Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) west of Indianapolis Boulevard (see dredging map for Reach locations). In December 2012, 70,000 CY were dredged in Reach 3 and 4 along the west side of the Indiana Harbor turning basin. Due to freezing weather, dredging operations were suspended and resumed on April 2nd, 2013. From April 2nd until August 1st, 2013, 214,000 CY were removed from the federal channel in Reaches 2, 3, 4, and 5. An additional 92,000 CY of private dredging was performed along Arcelor Mittal docks 4 and 6 in the turning basin, bringing total dredged sediment to approximately 400,000 CY through 2013.

Dredging during 2014 started in April and ended in July within Reaches 1, 4 and 5 of the federal channel. Reach 4 dredging was located in the southern portion of the turning basin and Reach 1 dredging is at the harbor entrance. 210,000 CY were dredged in 2014, bringing the overall total to approximately 610,000 CY dredged.

Dredging resumed in the spring and summer of 2015. About 274,000 CY was dredged in the Turning Basin and Reach 13 federal channels and 40,000 CY along nearby private non-Federal Arcelor Mittal dock channels. Please refer to the updated Dredging Map for these locations.