Going to New Depths

Dredging completed for Petersburg South Harbor

By Rachael Kvapil

fter successfully completing a dredging project at Petersburg’s North Harbor in 2014, Harbormaster Glo Wollen decided it made logical sense to dredge the South Harbor. After all, the collaboration with the US Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, had gone so smoothly that Wollen didn’t anticipate any problems.

Wollen soon learned, however, that the South Harbor didn’t match the same federal status as Petersburg’s North Harbor, which affected funding for maintenance projects. But Wollen, with the assistance of USACE, persevered. Last spring, Western Marine Construction, Inc. completed dredging Petersburg’s South Harbor for the first time in forty years.

“Nobody wants to fund dredging projects for a harbor,” says Wollen. “It costs millions of dollars that no one sees.”

That didn’t stop Wollen from working with USACE to find a way to fund a dredging project for the borough’s South Harbor so it could continue to accommodate larger commercial fishing vessels.

Though the North Harbor was built before statehood and was state-owned at one time, the South Harbor was built under different circumstances and thus not recognized as a federal harbor. Wollen says the borough could not afford to pay the entire cost for dredging the South Harbor and needed assistance from a federal partner.

After working on several waterfront projects, Wollen is familiar with the federal process. She knew Petersburg would need support from Alaska’s state and congressional delegations, along with USACE support. After many meetings with different government agencies, officials determined that Petersburg’s South Harbor actually was eligible for federal assistance, through Section 107 of the River and Harbor Act of 1960. Section 107 allows the Corps of Engineers to improve navigation—including dredging of channels—with a non-federal government sponsor such as Petersburg.

After borough officials spent years acquiring funding, the Petersburg Harbor dredging project is complete. Western Marine Construction, Inc. worked for two years removing material from the South Harbor floor, making it safe for large vessels to enter and exit as needed.

Photo provided by Western Marine Construction, Inc.

But there were a few hurdles to receiving the funding. The maximum federal cost for project development and construction is $10 million per project, and each project must be economically justified, environmentally sound, and technically feasible.

Wollen says 90 percent of the 577 total stalls available at the Petersburg Harbor are filled with commercial fishing vessels. As the economic backbone of Petersburg, it wasn’t difficult to justify the need for a dredging project.

The feasibility study revealed a significantly rising basin that resulted in many large-sized boats going aground at zero tide. This made it difficult for vessels to leave and return as needed.

In 2022, after USACE and Petersburg Borough hammered out the funding split for the $7.2 million project, Western Marine Construction started the process of removing material from the bottom of the harbor floor.

Joseph E. Zech, project manager for Western Marine, says that the company removed approximately 60,000 cubic yards of material from six areas, creating various depths necessary to accommodate all sizes of vessels. They disposed of dredged material in a dredge disposal area outside the Wrangell Narrows entrance channel in Fredrick Sound. They also removed, documented, and disposed of identified and unidentified objects from the harbor floor and monitored and documented marine mammals during all of the phases of the dredging and disposal operations. Western Marine worked with eTrac (now known as Woolpert) for pre-, interim, and post-hydrographic surveys. As an additional precaution, Western Marine primarily worked during the winter months when marine mammals were less likely to be in the area.

Working winters meant dealing with inclement weather. While winter weather poses challenges, bigger difficulties lay beneath the water. Crews unexpectedly ran into extremely hard soil, which immediately slowed down progress.

“We had to change out equipment and use different techniques to dig through the materials so we could reach specified dredging depths,” says Zech.

The logistics of boat traffic during the project also came into play. Wollen says she worked with Western Marine to stay ahead of working crews, contacting owners who, in some cases, would fly into Petersburg to move their vessels. She says several owners took the opportunity to place vessels in the shipyard during certain months of the project. It helped that all the owners, operators, and businesses were highly responsive and supportive of the project.

Western Marine Construction, Inc. unexpectedly ran into hard soil while dredging the South Harbor. Crews had to change out equipment and change dredging techniques to continue progress throughout the winter months.

Photo provided by Western Marine Construction, Inc.

“There was a lot of outreach and coverage in the local news,” says Wollen. “Everybody understood what was happening and how it would affect them.”

Western Marine began dredging the South Harbor in October 2022 and completed the project in March 2024. Once completed, the harbor returned to its original depths, which ranged from minus 9 to 19 feet.

“It was the right project for the right program,” says Kim Graham, Petersburg Project Manager for USACE.

Graham says it was shocking to hear how long Petersburg had gone without dredging the South Harbor and was happy that Section 107 provided a solution.

In addition to the pre-project work with Wollen, USACE also worked with Western Marine during dredging, managing paperwork and inspections. After the final inspections were done, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in May 2024 to celebrate the project’s completion. But the door on the project is not completely closed; USACE will revisit the South Harbor from time to time as they now have the responsibility of maintaining it and ensuring the harbor floor is kept at a proper depth.

“Our compliments to Petersburg,” says Graham. “They were a terrific sponsor.”

Wollen is equally as complimentary of USACE and Western Marine for bringing this long-needed plan to fruition.

“I can’t say enough wonderful things about the US Army Corps of Engineers,” says Wollen. “And the contractors worked hard through difficult situations to get us here.”