Shipping expected to resume into Waukegan Harbor

Authorities in northern Illinois say commercial shipping into Waukegan Harbor is expected to resume next month.

The (Waukegan) News-Sun reports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is completing a dredging project to remove sediment that piled up in the harbor after windstorms last fall.

Waukegan Port District Executive Director Duncan Henderson says dredging should wrap up in a few weeks and the harbor should reopen for ships by early August.

Officials say an October windstorm altered the normal sediment migration on the lake bed, which pushed sand into the entrance channel. The Army Corps performed an emergency dredging operation, but a second storm later closed the entrance again.

Henderson says at least one 400-foot freighter became stuck in the sediment when trying to approach the harbor after the storms.