Corps Awards Contract To Eastern For Dredge McFarland Replacement

The venerable dredge McFarland’s days indeed are numbered now that the Philadelphia Engineer District has awarded Panama City, Fla.-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group a firm-fixed-price contract “for the design-build of a new medium-class hopper dredge.”

The Philadelphia District first released draft solicitation documents for the project in January 2022. The contract award, valued at just under $257 million, was announced July 24.

According to the project’s contract solicitation documents, the new dredge will have a hopper capacity of 6,000 cubic yards, with the capability of discharging material through hopper doors or by pumping via pipeline. Maximum air draft of the new dredge will be 110 feet, while its maximum loaded draft will be 26 feet. The vessel will have a dredging depth range of between 35 and 65 feet. Crucial to its ready reserve role, the forthcoming dredge will have a minimum transit speed when empty of 12 knots and a minimum transit speed with the hopper full of 10 knots.

Now that the contract has been awarded, the wait for the new dredge won’t be too long, the district said.

“There will be a four-phased approach, including planning, design, construction and sea trials,” according to a statement from the Philadelphia District. “The new dredge is estimated to be placed into service in calendar year 2027.”

The dredge McFarland is part of the Corps of Engineers’ minimum fleet of hopper dredges, which also includes the Essayons, the Yaquina and the Wheeler. The Essayons was commissioned in 1983, and the Yaquina was commissioned in 1981. Both work the West Coast as part of the Portland Engineer District. The Wheeler, commissioned in 1982, is part of the New Orleans Engineer District and primarily serves the Gulf Coast region. Built in 1967, making it the most aged dredge in the Corps’ hopper fleet, the McFarland’s typical area of responsibility ranges from the Delaware River and Bay, along the East Coast and on the Gulf Coast, including Southwest Pass, the Mississippi River’s deep-draft access channel.

“Since 2010, the McFarland and the hopper dredge Wheeler are in ‘Ready Reserve’ status per federal statute,” the Philadelphia District said. “The McFarland is based in Philadelphia (Fort Mifflin) and conducts training along the Delaware River and Bay and is available for urgent dredging missions (Ready Reserve ‘call outs’). In the latter capacity, the McFarland has responded to numerous urgent dredging missions along the Mississippi River and in Texas and North Carolina.”

Part of the requirements of its Ready Reserve status is for the McFarland to respond to any critical dredging need in its area of responsibility within 72 hours, hence the minimum transit speed requirements for the forthcoming dredge.

With its Ready Reserve status and within the Corps’ minimum dredge fleet, the Wheeler and the McFarland—and by extension, the McFarland’s replacement—seek to maintain navigation on the nation’s waterways and ports while complementing the private dredge fleet.

“Reliable Corps hopper dredges provide strategic economic and risk reduction benefits to the nation’s navigation program and aid in emergency response, resiliency and recovery,” the Philadelphia District said. “The Corps’ hopper dredges provide an alternative when there are no bids from industry or if bids exceed a reasonable government estimate for proposed work.”

District officials noted that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ coastal navigation program alone covers more than 1,000 navigation projects and 13,000 miles of coastal channels.

“Keeping channels open for maritime commerce is critical to the economy and national security, and the minimum dredge fleet plays a role in enabling USACE to continue to deliver its navigation mission,” the district said.

The replacement dredge will be designed to support up to 18-day deployments, working 24 hours a day with a crew of 26 on board. Other performance requirements will include the ability to operate in 6-foot significant wave height (or a maximum wave height of 12 feet), a diesel electric power system, Z- or L-drive propulsion, the capability to transit from Philadelphia to Southwest Pass on the Mississippi River without refueling or resupply, and wildlife protection measures.

“It will employ enhanced vessel energy efficiency, including emission reduction, vessel ‘future proofing’ to accept energy transition towards renewables, propulsive efficient, and modern automation systems,” the Philadelphia District stated. “The new dredge shall also comply with all requirements for marine life conservation efforts, including advanced turtle deflection devices, inspection baskets for on-board surveyors and an anti-turbidity overflow system.”

Replacing the McFarland follows the statutory requirements included in the 1978 legislation that established the Corps’ minimum fleet. That law, which directs the Corps to use private industry dredges when possible, also requires the Corps to maintain its fleet “to technologically modern and efficient standards, including replacement as necessary.” With the recent $16 million in repairs for the McFarland, indicative of the increased cost of maintaining a now-57-year-old dredge, the Corps concluded that the time has come for replacing the McFarland.

In awarding the contract to Eastern Shipbuilding Group, the Corps has a builder with recent applicable dredge construction experience. In 2017, Eastern Shipbuilding delivered the Ellis Island, a trailing suction hopper dredge barge, and its associated tug, the Douglas B. Mackie, to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company. That same year, Eastern also delivered the hopper dredge Magdalen to Weeks Marine. In May of this year, Eastern Shipbuilding delivered the dredge R.B. Weeks, the sister vessel of the dredge Magdalen, to Weeks Marine.