en.Wedoany.com Reported - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to initiate a dredging project at Georgetown Harbor in July to restore navigability and support local economic development. Prior to the project's commencement, the Corps will host an informational meeting in collaboration with the City and County of Georgetown on June 30 at 5:30 p.m. at the South Carolina Maritime Museum to provide details to the public.
Project Manager Sonja Carter stated that the project aims to remove significant underwater sediment deposits from the channel, ensuring safe passage for commercial and recreational vessels. The work is expected to take less than three months, restoring channel depth to 12 feet and removing approximately 390,000 cubic yards of material, with an optional provision to remove an additional 170,000 cubic yards. Collected debris will be transported to the Sampit Placement Area, with no ocean disposal involved.
The harbor entrance and inner channel have not been dredged since 2006 and 2008, respectively. Due to sand and silt accumulation, channel depth in some areas has dropped to less than 5 feet. This $3.5 million dredging effort aims to support the Georgetown Harbor Master Plan, revitalizing core industrial waterfront properties including International Paper and Liberty Steel mills.
Georgetown County acquired the waterfront property from the S.C. State Ports Authority in 2023. In April, the county selected Seamon Whiteside & Associates to develop the harbor master plan. According to the county's Economic Development Director Kelly Robertson-Slagle, the plan will cover land use, infrastructure, environmental challenges, and market feasibility, aiming to guide redevelopment decisions for the site.
Warren Waters, head of River Development Equities, a New Jersey-based company that acquired the steel mill and paper mill sites, stated that the harbor property is a key part of his plans for the region, emphasizing that the waterfront should undergo continuous development to become a well-planned downtown area.
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