Project record

Isle of Palms Breach Inlet beneficial-use dredging

A heavy-lift crane, tugboats and a dredge barge working in the Isle of Palms waterway in September 2025

Paco Hamm / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District, 4 September 2025

USACE awarded a placement-area maintenance contract in March 2024 with an initial plan to move about 500,000 cubic yards to Isle of Palms and 200,000 cubic yards to Sullivan's Island. A separate Cottrell package later dredged active AIWW shoals. USACE's completion release reports about 700,000 cubic yards across the two Isle of Palms projects; the City separately records 265,000 cubic yards under Cottrell. Both beach-placement campaigns finished on 27 February 2026, followed by removal of concentrated clay pockets in April.

Project signal

Completed in United States

Current status Two dredging packages completed on 27 February 2026; clay cleanup followed in April and staging was cleared in May Source confidence Confirmed

Location

United States / Americas

Segment

Coastal infrastructure

Status

Two dredging packages completed on 27 February 2026; clay cleanup followed in April and staging was cleared in May / Confirmed

Last checked

18 July 2026

Coverage

Related sectors

Coastal 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, Charleston District, with the City of Isle of Palms
Delivery parties
Ahtna Marine & Construction Company / Cavache Dredging, Cottrell Contracting Corporation, Sewee Construction (shoreline cleanup subcontractor)
Contract route
USACE awarded the placement-area maintenance contract in March 2024, funded in part by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and regular AIWW operations-and-maintenance funding. Cottrell's later active-shoal dredging was a separate federal package. Neither package value is published.
Execution window
The original rehandling contract required completion by 26 January 2025. USACE still recorded active Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island placement in April 2025, and the City reported fewer than 200,000 cubic yards remaining under Ahtna on 23 January 2026. Ahtna and Cottrell both finished beach placement on 27 February 2026; clay cleanup followed in April and the last staging area was cleared by 12 May. Public records do not assign responsibility for the longer delivery period or identify approved extensions.
Works package
Ahtna rehandled material from four existing AIWW placement areas to recover future capacity. Its original allocation was about 500,000 cubic yards for Isle of Palms and 200,000 for Sullivan's Island. Cottrell first routed material from Dewees Inlet shoal and Breach Inlet shoal 1B to an open-water site, then placed material from shoal 1A on Isle of Palms. The City records 265,000 cubic yards under Cottrell; USACE's completion release reports about 700,000 cubic yards across both Isle of Palms jobs.
Marine interfaces
Active AIWW shoals, four upland placement areas, hydraulic dredging and rehandling, open-water placement, temporary pipeline and booster-pump systems, 24-hour intertidal placement, public-access ramps, turtle monitoring, tidal redistribution and shoreline cleanup
Commercial evidence boundary
Reusing sand recovered storage capacity in four placement areas and avoided a disposal-only route. USACE chose below-high-tide placement partly to reduce cost and let tides wash out silt, clay and vegetation. That assumption was only partly self-executing: concentrated clay pockets still needed a separate six-day low-tide cleanup crew after placement.

Project timeline

Material developments

Dated events that changed scope, counterparties, delivery, commissioning or operating status.

Open this project in the Change Log

Ahtna cleared the final staging area

The City reported that staging was removed and beach access and parking were restored, closing the remaining visible construction footprint.

Source

USACE marked both dredging projects complete

The district reported about 700,000 cubic yards placed below high tide between 2nd and 10th Avenue. The figure covers the combined programme and does not provide a contractor-by-contractor final split.

Source

A shoreline crew began removing clay pockets

Sewee Construction was brought in under Cottrell to remove concentrated clay and mud at low tide, turning a material-compatibility issue into a defined cleanup task after placement.

Source

Both placement packages reached field completion

The City recorded completion by Ahtna and Cottrell on the same date and identified 265,000 cubic yards placed by Cottrell between 6th and 9th Avenue.

Source

Ahtna entered its final borrow area as Cottrell approached

The City reported fewer than 200,000 cubic yards remaining. Ahtna shifted south of 6th Avenue so the separate Cottrell package could work nearby, while continuing 24-hour operations.

Source

Cottrell's material routes were separated by shoal

The City said Dewees Inlet material and Breach Inlet shoal 1B material would go to an open-water site before shoal 1A material was placed on the Isle of Palms beach.

Source

USACE confirmed the March 2024 maintenance-contract award

The AIWW fact sheet recorded the award date and said beneficial-use placement was still active on Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island in April 2025.

Source

Evidence gap

What remains unverified

Outstanding evidence

  • Post-dredge channel condition at Breach Inlet and the AIWW shoals
  • Beach-profile surveys between 2nd and 10th Avenue
  • Movement of the below-high-tide placement across the active profile
  • Any further clay or unsuitable-material cleanup
  • Recovered capacity in the four AIWW placement areas
  • Future maintenance frequency at the recurring shoals

Related records 2

Reporting status

Completed, confirmed confidence

Last checked 18 July 2026 across 7 cited sources. The dated timeline above carries the project events.

Last checked 18 July 2026 Cited sources 7

Sources and related records

Read featured analysis Methodology Submit a correction Project tracker
Source collections

Project sources 7