LEWES, Del. - Dredging in the Lewes Canal is finally complete after a month long delay. The project ultimately moved about 40,000 cubic yards of sediment from in between the Roosevelt Inlet to just south of the Freeman Highway bridge, after the 5 months of work total.
The project altogether cost $1.8 million according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Fishermen like H.D. Parsons said he already sees a difference,
"So if you got in too close, you catch up on a mud bar that was piled up there and sometimes they would make you stop." said Parsons. "So you had to make you a lot wider. And yesterday it's just nice and smooth and easy as it can be."
Parsons added that since the removal of the railroad bridge and the dredging of the canal, the water flow has become faster,
"It's hard to believe a railroad bridge would do that but with the cleaning of the canal out the other day... going down the canal with the current we're normally six knots, 6.1 going down with the current. Yesterday dead idle we were 7.1."
The Army Corps of Engineers confirms that plans are underway for a separate contract focused on more dredging east and south of the Freeman Highway bridge, where this project left off.
In a previous meeting, the City of Lewes said that the equipment used to dredge the canal couldn't be used to dredge the boat slips in Canalfront Park. The city said it plans to go back and dredge those boat slips in the fall.