Swinomish Channel dredging moves sand and silt deeper

A red sky at night is a sailor’s delight.

So, too, is dredging of Swinomish Channel.

A California marine contractor has begun removing just over 150,000 cubic yards of material from the channel, a project scheduled to run through November, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Removing sediment from the channel, which runs 11 nautical miles between Padilla Bay to the north and Skagit Bay to the south, is considered essential in helping prevent shoaling and to maintain the popular sheltered route used by an array of commercial, recreational and Tribal vessels.

A barge-mounted crane has been situated off Goat Island, near the southern entrance to Swinomish Channel proper – the picturesque Hole-in-the-Wall – for the past two weeks.

A mechanical clamshell dredge has daily placed sediment onto a dump barge for transport to a primary disposal site in Rosario Strait northwest of Anacortes, some 22 miles away.

The Port Gardner area, about 35 miles distant, is a secondary disposal location should weather or other concerns arise.

The channel was last dredged in 2014.

A primary mission of the Seattle District of the Army Corps of Engineers is to maintain harbors and navigation channels in support of Washington state’s vital maritime economy.