Location
United States / Americas
Project record
Buffalo Harbor 2026 dredging and Slip 3 wetland placement
USACE Buffalo District's 2026 maintenance contract covers approximately 190,000 cubic yards of mechanical dredging from Buffalo Harbor's outer-harbor and Buffalo River federal channels. About 110,000 cubic yards is planned for confined disposal facility #4 and about 80,000 cubic yards for Shipping Slip 3. The Slip 3 breakwater was completed in 2024; this year's placement is one contribution to a 285,000-cubic-yard fill programme expected to continue through 2028 before aquatic habitat works are formed.
Segment
Port infrastructure
Status
USD 2.3 million Ryba contract awarded; July-August 2026 dredging and placement programme announced / Confirmed
Last checked
13 August 2026
Coverage
Related sectors
Port infrastructure is the primary work classification. Related sectors connect this record to adjacent marine delivery and market coverage.
Subject index
Related subjects
These subject pages bring together related projects, technical articles, reports, and evidence methods.
Project anatomy
Contract scope and delivery roles
- Client / authority
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District
- Delivery parties
- Ryba Marine Construction Co.
- Contract route
- USD 2.3 million federal maintenance-dredging contract awarded in April 2026
- Execution window
- Dredging expected to start as early as 18 July 2026; Slip 3 placement estimated for 1-25 August 2026
- Works package
- Mechanical dredging of approximately 190,000 cubic yards from the outer-harbor and Buffalo River federal channels, with about 110,000 cubic yards routed to CDF #4 and about 80,000 cubic yards routed to Shipping Slip 3
- Marine interfaces
- A 5.5-mile Buffalo River federal channel and outer-harbor reaches with authorized depths from 22 to 30 feet; mechanical excavation feeds an in-lake confined facility and, separately, a breakwater-contained beneficial-use cell connected to Lake Erie
- Commercial evidence boundary
- The award fixes contractor, price and planned quantities, but the 17 July notice does not establish mobilisation or output. CDF #4 is a 107-acre federal navigation facility with more than 20 years of capacity reported in 2023; Slip 3 is a separate beneficial-use destination with a defined fill level and later habitat scope. Payment and acceptance evidence should therefore preserve the actual route split rather than relying on one aggregate dredging total.
Project timeline
Material developments
Dated events that changed scope, counterparties, delivery, commissioning or operating status.
Open this project in the Change LogUSACE published the 2026 start plan and two-route material split
The release identifies Ryba, a USD 2.3 million award, approximately 190,000 cubic yards, a start as early as 18 July, and separate CDF #4 and Slip 3 quantities. These are contracted and planned values, not measured field results.
SourceThe Outer Harbor wetland entered its staged construction sequence
USACE and Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation described a 6.7-acre Slip 3 wetland requiring approximately 285,000 cubic yards over an estimated three dredging cycles, followed by planting and habitat features. That programme baseline does not establish current fill or ecological performance.
SourceA prior Buffalo campaign set a historical Ryba baseline
USACE awarded Ryba a separate USD 991,500 contract for approximately 80,000 cubic yards routed to the harbor CDF. That earlier contract shows recurring two-year maintenance but is not evidence of 2026 production.
SourceEvidence gap
What remains unverified
Outstanding evidence
- Ryba plant mobilisation and the actual first day of dredging
- Measured excavation by outer-harbor and Buffalo River reach
- Actual receipts at CDF #4 and Shipping Slip 3
- Sediment test results and placement approvals
- Post-dredge surveys against the 22-to-30-foot authorized-depth range
- Slip 3 fill elevation and cumulative progress toward 285,000 cubic yards
- Native planting, habitat-feature installation and ecological monitoring after fill placement
Sources and related records
Read featured analysis Methodology Submit a correction Project tracker
Source collections
Project sources 6
- Buffalo Harbor dredging starting and supporting a future Great Lakes wetland U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, 17 July 2026
- First phase of construction on the Buffalo Outer Harbor wetland U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, 20 December 2023
- Buffalo Harbor project requirements fact sheet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, Current fact sheet reviewed 17 July 2026
- Buffalo Harbor confined disposal facility #4 fact sheet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, 26 July 2023
- Outer Harbor construction and future development projects: Slip 3 ecological restoration Empire State Development / Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, Current project page reviewed 13 August 2026
- USACE awards the separate 2022 Buffalo Harbor dredging contract U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, 13 April 2022