Project Scope
The project consists of removing critical shoals from the channel to provide safe navigation for shallow draft vessels that are transiting along the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay into a harbor of refuge at Saxis, Va.  

The project will dredge the entrance channel 7 feet deep, 60 feet wide in the Pocomoke Sound to the mouth of Starlings Creek; a turning basin 7 feet deep, 100 feet wide and approximately 1,100 feet long inside the entrance; and a channel 7 feet deep, 60 feet wide connecting the turning basin to the harbor of refuge 7 feet deep, 200 feet wide and 500 feet long.

Initial project efforts will include hydrographic surveys to examine the channel's condition and subsequent analysis to analyze and design potential placement locations. The Norfolk District performed planning, design and data collection and secured environmental permits from state agencies to complete the dredging.

Authorization
Rivers and Harbor Act of 1935 
Harbor of Refuge under the authority of Section 107 of the River and Harbor Act of 14 July 1960

Background
The Town of Saxis is seeking a safe unimpeded navigation channel for commercial vessel use and to provide a safe harbor of refuge for vessels transiting the Chesapeake Bay. The last time this project was dredged was in 2001.

Schedule