Project record

Georgetown Harbor maintenance dredging

Close view of a cutterhead dredge cutting assembly used for channel dredging

Sean McBride / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District; method context, not Georgetown mobilisation evidence

Georgetown Harbor's current award is a navigation-recovery package after annual federal dredging stopped in 2008 and shoaling accumulated through 2024. USACE plans cutterhead dredging of about 390,000 cubic yards from the Bypass and Steel Mill channels, with a 170,000-cubic-yard option, for up to about 560,000 cubic yards routed to existing upland placement areas without ocean disposal.

Project signal

Award in United States

Read the current work as navigation recovery after an 18-year maintenance gap, not routine annual dredging or completed access restoration. Separate the 390,000-cubic-yard base quantity from the 170,000-cubic-yard option, and separate the current Bypass and Steel Mill contract from the broader future operations-and-maintenance envelope assessed in the 2026 environmental record. Track contractor identity, notice to proceed, cutterhead plant mobilisation, option exercise, measured production, upland placement, completion hydrography, accepted depth, navigation release, and reliable industrial access.

Current status USD 3.587 million award; July 2026 start expected but mobilisation remains unconfirmed Source confidence Confirmed

Location

United States / Americas

Segment

Port infrastructure

Status

USD 3.587 million award; July 2026 start expected but mobilisation remains unconfirmed / Confirmed

Evidence reviewed

16 July 2026

Controlled taxonomy

Related sectors

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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, Charleston District
Delivery parties
Contract awardee is not identified in the reviewed USACE public release
Contract route
USD 3.587 million federal navigation-maintenance contract awarded on 1 June 2026; contractor identity is absent from the reviewed public release, and the May 2026 forecast's USD 5 million-USD 10 million range is a pre-award planning band rather than final contract value
Execution window
USACE expected work to start in July 2026 and finish in less than three months, but the contractor, notice to proceed, plant mobilisation and production remained undisclosed at the 16 July cutoff
Works package
Current contract: cutterhead dredging in the Bypass and Steel Mill channels to 12 feet plus 2 feet of allowable overdepth, with about 390,000 cubic yards in the base and 170,000 cubic yards in an option, or up to about 560,000 cubic yards project-wide. The broader environmental assessment also evaluates future operations and maintenance, deeper authorized reaches, and possible one-to-two-year cycles subject to funding; those are not current awarded quantities or achieved depths.
Marine interfaces
Long-term shoaling after annual dredging stopped in 2008; cutterhead production in constrained industrial-navigation reaches; placement in existing upland dredged-material management areas at Waccamaw Point, Waccamaw Neck, and Sampit River; no ocean disposal in the selected action; water-quality, protected-species, vessel-traffic, and completion-survey controls
Commercial read
The award reopens a federal maintenance pathway for industrial waterfront access serving facilities including International Paper and Liberty Steel. Restored channel availability still depends on contractor disclosure, plant mobilisation, option exercise, accepted hydrography, navigation release and repeat vessel access.
Next milestone
Named contractor or notice to proceed, cutterhead mobilisation and production start, followed by option authorization, measured placement, completion hydrography, accepted depth, and navigation release

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.

USACE set a July start expectation and public navigation-safety briefing

The district said dredging was expected to begin in July and finish in less than three months, with a public meeting covering vessel safety around active equipment. The release establishes an intended window, not contractor disclosure, notice to proceed, mobilisation, or production.

Read controlling source

USACE awarded the USD 3.587 million navigation-recovery contract

The award covers about 390,000 cubic yards in the base and a 170,000-cubic-yard option in the Bypass and Steel Mill channels, or up to about 560,000 cubic yards. The reviewed release does not identify the contractor or establish physical start.

Read controlling source

South Carolina issued Clean Water Act Section 401 certification

The certification closed a key water-quality approval step for the selected cutterhead-and-upland-placement action. Construction award and restored navigation remained outside the certification.

Read controlling source

USACE opened draft SEA and FONSI public review

The review established the environmental decision route for renewed operations and maintenance after the long dredging gap. It preceded the final February 2026 assessment, water-quality certification, and contract award.

Read controlling source

Delivery watch

Evidence needed next

Named contractor or notice to proceed, cutterhead mobilisation and production start, followed by option authorization, measured placement, completion hydrography, accepted depth, and navigation release

Decision watchpoints

  • Named contractor, notice to proceed, cutterhead plant mobilisation, and actual production start
  • Measured 390,000-cubic-yard base quantity and authorization of the 170,000-cubic-yard option
  • Use and performance of the existing Waccamaw Point, Waccamaw Neck, and Sampit River upland placement areas
  • Water-quality certification, protected-species controls, and environmental-compliance reporting
  • Completion hydrography, accepted channel depth, navigation release, and demonstrated industrial access

Related records 2

Project availability status

This public project page is a tracked market record rather than a tender notice, contractual commitment, or commercial instruction. Use the status, confidence label, evidence-review date, and source note together when judging how much weight to place on the signal.

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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 16 July 2026 Sources in this record 7

Source record

The February 2026 final Supplemental Environmental Assessment records that USACE maintained Georgetown Harbor annually until regular dredging was discontinued in 2008 because the project ranked low for federal funding, and that shoaling degraded the Steel Mill, Bypass, and Sampit reaches between 2008 and 2024. The final action uses a cutterhead dredge and existing upland dredged-material management areas rather than hopper dredging or ocean disposal; it excludes mainstem Sampit River dredging from the refined action. The Finding of No Significant Impact records draft public review beginning 14 May 2025 and Clean Water Act Section 401 certification on 10 November 2025. The 24 June 2026 USACE release reports a USD 3.587 million contract awarded on 1 June and a July start expectation for less than three months of work. The base covers about 390,000 cubic yards, with 170,000 cubic yards in an option, to restore the current Bypass and Steel Mill package to 12 feet plus 2 feet of allowable overdepth. The two quantities total up to about 560,000 cubic yards; they are not additional to the approximately 560,000-cubic-yard project-wide quantity in the FONSI. The broader assessment's potential future one-to-two-year maintenance cycle and up-to-750,000-cubic-yard annual need are planning boundaries subject to funding, not current award scope or recurring production.

Phase: award. Evidence reviewed: 16 July 2026.

Project sources 7