Project record

Baltimore Harbor 2026 maintenance dredging and Cox Creek routing

DB Avalon clamshell bucket lifting fine-grained sediment during Baltimore Harbor maintenance dredging in June 2026

Jeremy Todd / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District

Curtin Maritime's hybrid clamshell dredge DB Avalon is removing approximately 1.46 million cubic yards from Baltimore Harbor approach channels under the 2026 maintenance programme. Material is loaded into scows and taken to the Cox Creek Dredged Material Containment Facility.

Project signal

Construction in United States

Keep excavation, Cox Creek receipt and later capacity recovery on separate evidence lines. The June release and field photographs confirm active clamshell dredging and the planned 1.46-million-cubic-yard contract scope, but they do not publish final excavation, accepted channel survey or material recovered through STAR.

Current status Curtin Maritime's DB Avalon was operating in the Patapsco River on 16 June 2026 Source confidence Confirmed

Location

United States / Americas

Segment

Port infrastructure

Status

Curtin Maritime's DB Avalon was operating in the Patapsco River on 16 June 2026 / Confirmed

Evidence reviewed

18 July 2026

Controlled taxonomy

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Knowledge context

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Project anatomy

Scope, counterparties, and execution logic

Client / authority
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, with Maryland Port Administration
Delivery parties
Curtin Maritime
Contract route
Competitively awarded federal maintenance-dredging contract executed by Curtin Maritime. The current 2026 story publishes the 1.46-million-cubic-yard scope but not a contract value; USD 229 million is a broader fiscal-year appropriation and the USD 33.5 million award belongs to the preceding fiscal-year package.
Execution window
Winter through late spring 2026, with DB Avalon operations observed on 16 June 2026.
Works package
Mechanical clamshell dredging of approximately 1.46 million cubic yards of fine-grained silt and clay from Baltimore Harbor approach channels, loading into scows and transport to the Cox Creek Dredged Material Containment Facility
Marine interfaces
Hybrid-powered clamshell dredging in the Patapsco River, 24-hour rotating operations, scow loading, tug movements, Cox Creek offloading and maintenance of authorized 50-foot channels that are 800 to 1,000 feet wide
Commercial read
The current contractor, plant, quantity, channel geometry and Cox Creek route are public. The current contract value is not. The broader USD 229 million fiscal-year appropriation, the preceding USD 33.5 million fiscal-year award and STAR's separate remediation and reuse programme should not be merged into one contract value or delivery claim.
Next milestone
Final excavation and Cox Creek receipt quantities, post-dredge survey and USACE acceptance, followed separately by evidenced STAR capacity recovery

Material change register

What changed, when, and what it proves

Only source-bound events that alter phase, scope, counterparties, delivery, completion, commissioning, or acceptance are listed. A change can advance the record without proving the next gate.

DB Avalon was operating in the Patapsco River

USACE field reporting and exact-site photographs confirm active clamshell excavation and scow loading under the current 1.46-million-cubic-yard package. They do not establish final production or accepted channel condition.

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USACE published the current approach-channel quantity and geometry

Baltimore District identified approximately 1.46 million cubic yards before spring 2026 and restated the 50-foot authorized depth and 800-to-1,000-foot channel widths.

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MPA set out the STAR capacity-recovery plan

Port Commission minutes record a five-year plan to reclaim 1.2 million cubic yards of Cox Creek capacity. The planned recovery remains separate from dredged material received in 2026 and from verified reuse output.

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Delivery watch

Evidence needed next

Final excavation and Cox Creek receipt quantities, post-dredge survey and USACE acceptance, followed separately by evidenced STAR capacity recovery

Decision watchpoints

  • Measured excavation against the approximately 1.46-million-cubic-yard contract scope
  • Scow movements and documented receipts at Cox Creek
  • Authorized 50-foot channel depth, allowable overdepth and post-dredge hydrography
  • Sediment characterization and material-routing compliance
  • Completion and USACE acceptance of the current maintenance package
  • STAR remediation and opening of the first 26-acre parcel
  • Verified capacity recovered against the separate 50,000-cubic-yard 2026 target and five-year 1.2-million-cubic-yard plan

Related records 2

Project availability status

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Record control

Evidence reviewed date is not a project-event date.

IMWO changes phase, participants, scope, completion, or acceptance wording only when a dated source establishes the change. The review date records when the evidence set was checked; it does not claim that physical work changed on that date.

Evidence reviewed 18 July 2026 Sources in this record 7

Source record

The 22 June 2026 USACE/DVIDS story controls the current contractor, DB Avalon operation, approximately 1.46-million-cubic-yard scope, winter-through-spring period, Cox Creek route, 24-hour work pattern, broader USD 229 million appropriation and STAR/Mid-Bay context. The 23 February 2026 Baltimore District release independently records the 1.46-million-cubic-yard approach-channel scope before spring, authorized 50-foot depth and 800-to-1,000-foot width. Maryland Port Administration's dredging page controls the 4.7-million-cubic-yard annual port-system average, active placement sites and 20-year planning requirement. The 3 June 2025 commission minutes control STAR's five-year 1.2-million-cubic-yard capacity-recovery projection; it is a plan, not achieved output. The November 2024 USD 33.5 million award covered a separate fiscal-year package of approximately 2.3 million cubic yards and is historical procurement context only.

Phase: construction. Evidence reviewed: 18 July 2026.

Project sources 7