Dredging Contract Awarded

The Buffalo Engineer District awarded an $11.7 million contract to New York-based DMYLES, Inc. on April 9 to conduct dredging of the federal navigation channel in Cleveland Harbor twice this year.

Dredging of harbors like Cleveland’s ensures accessible depths for large vessels, the continued flow of commodities across the Great Lakes and nearly $789 million in business revenue and labor income for the region, according to the announcement.

Approximately 250,000 cubic yards of sediment are planned to be dredged from the upper Cuyahoga River from May 15 through June 30 and from October 1 through November 30. Sediment will be beneficially used through upland processing and placed in a confined disposal facility.

Dredging of Cleveland Harbor is conducted annually by the Corps, based on need and the availability of funding. The harbor was last dredged in 2025, with 255,651 cubic yards of sediments removed.

Cleveland Harbor is a deep-draft commercial harbor that handled 13.8 million tons of cargo, including iron ore (64 percent), limestone (16 percent) and salt (9 percent) in 2023, according to the Corps of Engineers. Waterborne transportation facilitated by the harbor supports $646.1 million in business revenue, 2,329 direct, indirect and induced jobs and $142.6 million in labor income to the transportation sector.