Salmon Creek Development Co. has asked the federal government for permission to dredge a portion of Gastineau Channel.
The plan was announced in a public notice published Dec. 8 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps must give permission for work in the navigable waters of the United States.
Joseph Smith, who filed the request on behalf of Salmon Creek Development, said the dredging will allow deeper-draft barges to unload at the dock, which is on Channel Drive just south of Salmon Creek’s mouth.
The application filed with the Corps of Engineers calls for the barge landing to be deepened from about 10 feet below mean lower low water to as much as 20 feet below mean lower low water.
The approximately 55,000 cubic meters of dredged material will be dumped in another portion of Gastineau Channel.
Smith said by phone that the timing of the work will depend upon the availability of a clamshell dredge.
The barge landing on Channel Drive is typically used for gravel delivery and other bulk materials used in construction. Junked cars have also been shipped out of Juneau via the landing.
The barge landing was used to deliver material used in the reconstruction of Egan Drive last summer, and additional Egan work is expected in summer 2017.
Without improvements to the Channel Drive landing, Smith said, material likely would be landed at the Rock Dump and trucked through downtown.
Public comments are being accepted on the dredging proposal through Jan. 9. Email Randal.P.Vigil@usace.army.mil for more information.
