Jamaica Bay / Rockaway Inlet Maintenance Dredging

Jamaica Bay is located on the southern side of Long Island, in  New York, near the island's western end. The bay connects with Lower New York Bay to the west through Rockaway Inlet. Rockaway Inlet is bounded by Brooklyn to the north and Rockaway Peninsula to the south. It is the entrance to Jamaica Bay. 

CASHMAN was contracted to conduct maintenance dredging to restore authorized dimensions and help ensure continued safe navigation in the Jamaica Bay Federal Channel at Rockaway Inlet.


PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

• Dredging of 434,395 cubic yards of sandy shoal material from the federal channel at Rockaway Inlet, west of the jetty at Breezy Point, NY.
• On average, the channel has a five-year annual commercial tonnage of 560,683 tons. Dredging re-established approved dimensions of the channel and also reduced the risk of a spill that could potentially cause damage to the nearby Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens.
• CASHMAN used its hopper dredge, MV Atchafalaya, making over 400 round-trips to offshore disposal at the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS), located 13 miles south of the dredging location.
• Dredging in the shallow water conditions (<5 feet) made boat handling and sand removal difficult.
• Additionally, the schedule was impacted by Hurricane Sandy, which interrupted work for 2 weeks and wrecked the shore-based infrastructure already in place. High rates of sand redeposition required redredging of previously cleared areas.
• In spite of these challenges, CASHMAN was able to complete the project in a timely matter, and USACE New York rated CASHMAN'S performance “above average” in its diligence to the work and fulfilling the contract.