Menemsha piling work and dredging underway

1
Two scoops in Menemsha: The scoop-rigged crane aboard an Offshore Engineering barge sits idle on Sunday afternoon, waiting for a new week of sand dredging. A scoop for tougher sediment sits in reserve on the bulkhead. — Rich Saltzberg

Routine work on pilings is underway in Menemsha Harbor, and due to a “tremendous amount of shoaling” behind the jetty, some dredging is also taking place, selectman Jim Malkin told The Times Monday.

Marine contractor John Packer of Offshore Engineering is doing the work. It is funded out of the $30,000 annual harbor budget for piling repair, Mr. Malkin said, and is not related to the piling work and materials approved in the November special town meeting.

Sand mucked out from beside the jetty is being used to renourish a portion of Menemsha Beach, Mr. Malkin said. The buildup of sand is more than anyone can remember, he added. The major dredging operation completed by an Army Corps of Engineers contractor in October may have generated the excess sand, he said.

Mr. Packer told The Times he anticipates dredging only sand and soft sediment, but he brought along a second clamshell scoop meant for harder seabed because, he reasoned, what you don’t bring is what you wind up needing.

1 COMMENT

  1. “what you don’t bring is what you wind up needing” In a world where it seems everything is made so complicated as to defy explanation, it is refreshing to read simple words of common sense.

Comments are closed.