Friday, December 1, 2023
By Rob Morris on August 20, 2018
The Murden returning from Oregon Inlet last week. (Rob Morris)
Dare County has chosen a contractor for the public-private partnership that will build and operate a dredge to maintain Oregon Inlet.
One of two companies to respond to the county’s request for proposals, EJE Recycling of Greenville was chosen over a Massachusetts company primarily because of its experience working the inlet and its plans to base and maintain the dredge locally.
The county’s Oregon Inlet Task Force made the selection last week. Next, the panel will work out a contract to present to the Board of Commissioners, County Manager Bobby Outten said.
Dare County and EJE will work together to find a builder for the vessel. It would probably be a hopper dredge like the Corps of Engineers’ 150-foot Currituck or 156-foot Murden, which both work the inlet. But a combination dredge would also be considered if it can be designed and is affordable, Outten said.
The two hopper dredges do the heavy-duty work. They pull out the sand and haul it to a spoil site, but they need deeper water to operate. Each can haul more than 500 cubic yards of sand, the equivalent of about 36 dump-truck loads.
Lighter maintenance is done by a sidecaster, which shoots the sand just outside the channel.
EJE’s competitor, Cashman Dredging, is a larger, more established company. But it could not promise to base the dredge on the Outer Banks.
In its proposal, EJE said it plans to homeport the dredge in Wanchese and maintain it in Manns Harbor. Porting and maintaining the dredge locally is crucial because it will minimize turn-around times for maintenance and docking during bad weather, Outten said.
Another plus is that Donnie Potter, the leader of the EJE division handling the project, has solid experience in the inlet as a skipper of the Currituck and later as chief of the Physical Support Branch with the Corps’ Wilmington District.
Plans for the dredge were included in the state’s updated budget passed earlier this year. The biggest local provision authorized $15 million from the shallow draft inlet dredging fund to create the partnership to buy the dredge, with Dare County paying for its operation in Oregon and Hatteras inlets and other channels.
The dredge funding requires the private company to also pay $15 million for the $30 million dredge and provide work to Dare County at a reduced rate in exchange for a state loan eventually being forgiven.
While Dare would likely be using it the most, the dredge would be available to help clear other waterways along North Carolina’s coastline. It could be operating in 18 months to two years.
Dredging has crawled to a near halt as federal funding for smaller inlets and harbors has been repeatedly cut by Congress and the White House for decades.
Dare County and North Carolina have since picked up the slack by paying the Army Corps of Engineers to clean out the channels with their limited fleet.
In a formal resolution passed at their May 7 meeting, Dare County commissioners pledged $3,250,000, with $3 million already set aside from an occupancy tax allocation for dredging.
Matching money from the state that would bring the total to $10 million for operation of the dredge over a five-year period and would come from the shallow draft channel fund.
ADVERTISEMENT FOR BID:
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Bid Location and Time: Bid opening will be held in the Barnhill Contracting Rocky Mount Training & GPS Technology Room: 800 Tiffany Bvld, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. Time is as follows: January 09, 2024 at 10:00am and 2:00pm. Times per packages to be given on via addendum #01.
Barnhill Contracting Company will receive, open, and read publicly all bids received in person in the Training & GPS Technology Room at the main office and listed with the virtual viewing at the link to be posted on Barnhill’s Plan Room.
Bids will not be accepted from bidders that are not pre-qualified. No facsimile or email submissions are permitted. Sealed bids are to be hand delivered to the bid opening location noted above or mailed Sealed Bids can be delivered before 9:00am the day of the bid to the Barnhill Contracting Company Office at 800 Tiffany Blvd., Suite 200 Rocky Mount, NC 27804. Attention “Clint Hardison.”
The pre-bid meeting will be held in Person & Zoom Meeting on December 06, 2023 at 10:00 am at the Barnhill Contracting’s Rocky Mount Main Conference Room: 800 Tiffany Bvld, Rocky Mount, NC 27804.
The pre-bid meeting link can be located on Barnhill’s online Building Division Plan Room ( https://app.buildingconnected.com/public/54da832ce3edb5050017438b) and below. A preferred brand alternates meeting will be held via the same link at the end of the Prebid meeting.
Bid Documents can be viewed or downloaded through Barnhill’s online Building Division Plan Room (https://app.buildingconnected.com/public/54da832ce3edb5050017438b) after 12/04/2023.
All Bidders are strongly encouraged to include opportunities for HUB participation wherever possible in their respective Bid submission. HUB participation is a part of this contract and must comply with all requirements set forth in the Bid Documents.
The Construction Manager and Owner reserve the right to add pre-qualified bidders. The Construction Manager and Owner reserve the right to reject any and all bids. Should you require additional direction, please call Barnhill Contracting Company, (Clint Hardison – 252-802-0740).
Clint Hardison is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Dare EMS – Phase 2 Pre-Bid Conference
Time: Dec 6, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Comments
Go to comments
WombatNC
Money well spent! Tax revenues generated by the offshore fleets, commercial fishing boats and the Oregon Inlet Coast Guard will help to offset the expense. In addition, local mariners will benefit with safer and more consistent passage through Oregon and Hatteras Inlets.
Slappy
@wombatNC please explain how the Oregon inlet coast guard generates tax revenue. Also I would be curious to see the tax revenue numbers generated by the inlet as a whole. I have just not seen these numbers, but i think you make a great point and I hope the people making these decisions do consider these numbers
jackie harris
The idea of a side caster is a bad idea, it places the sand at the edge of the channel and it float’s right back in as gravity and the current changes!
WombatNC
@ Slappy – the service men and women who work at the Oregon Inlet CG facility live in our communities and pay taxes, own homes, buy groceries, etc. Not a huge impact, but it all adds up to help alleviate the costs. I’m with you though, it would be interesting to see how much tax revenue is generated annually from all interests utilizing the inlets.