Corps of Engineers awards Gordon Pass dredging contract
Jacksonville, Fla. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a maintenance dredging contract June 24 for the Naples to Big Marco, Gordon Pass located in Collier County. The federal channel is about 4.5 miles long and has an authorized depth of 12 feet.
The Corps’ Jacksonville District awarded the contract to Southwind Construction Corps of Evansville, Indiana, for $1,655,872. Construction may start as soon as mid-August.
Project Manager Beau Corbett worked with federal contracting officers on a contracting strategy that allowed the government to maximize buying power and dredge more material from the channel. The project is 100 percent federally funded.
“Federal funds are limited, and the competition nationwide for those funds is very tough,” Corbett said. “The local sponsor’s efforts to convey the economic importance of this project resulted in Congress appropriating funds for the work. I am glad the work will get done to improve channel conditions.”
The contractor will dredge an estimated 80,000 cubic yards of material from cuts 1, 3 and 4 in the Gordon Pass Channel. Cuts 3 and 4 were added to the awarded contract as a result of the contracting strategy. The Corps estimates construction will continue through October 2016.
Jacksonville District is responsible for 17 deep draft harbors and 20 shallow draft harbors in Florida and the Caribbean, as well as roughly 900 miles of navigable inland waterways. The Jacksonville District is overseeing roughly $46 million in operations and maintenance work in 2016 on federal navigation projects in Florida.
The Corps uses a risk management approach in its budget that includes establishing priorities and focusing available funds on the highest priority construction, operation, maintenance, and investigation activities. Coastal channels and inland waterways are maintained with emphasis on those with a high or moderate level of commercial use. It's good business to support investment that provides a high return to the nation, which energizes a larger portion of the economy.
The Corps asks the public to use caution in the channel during dredging operations and for local residents to be patient with the temporary construction noise as the project progresses. For more information on Corps of Engineers projects, visit www.saj.usace.army.mil.
Release no. 16-048