Great Lakes nets $99 million in Delaware River projects

OAK BROOK - Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. received three awards with an approximate aggregate value of $99 million for projects along the Delaware River.

Valued at $77 million, the Delaware River Rock Reach award is a capital project that includes dredging approximately 320,000 cubic yards of rock and gravel material, which will deepen the main channel of the Delaware River. The Rock Reach project is the most difficult section of the river to deepen due to the hard rock areas within the dredging template. Work on this project is expected to commence at the end of the year and will be completed by December 31, 2017.

The second award, valued at $17 million, involves dredging approximately 200,000 cubic yards of material and removal of approximately 10,000 tons of debris at the Philadelphia Naval Reserve Basin on the Delaware River. Work on this capital project will begin in 2016 and will be completed within the year.

The third $5 million award involves maintenance dredging of approximately 127,000 cubic yards along a portion of the Delaware River between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District issued these awards to Great Lakes during the third quarter and therefore will be included in the company's backlog as of Sept. 30. Great Lakes will utilize a drilling and blasting barge to pretreat the seabed rock formations in the river and mechanical and hydraulic dredges to complete these projects.

Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Berger said the Army Corps has increased spending for major capital deepening projects

"These projects will improve the efficiency of the transportation of trade cargo to the Delaware River ports, which is an important component to supporting the long-term sustainability and growth of the U.S. economy," Berger said.