There is a lot of activity going on within Wabasha to help ensure the navigation channel will open this spring.
Wabasha Mayor Emily Durand says the City and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, are working under a historic agreement to remove around 135,000 cubic yards of dredged sand at a temporary placement site to make room for future dredging activities.
Durand says the city’s contractor, Kohner Materials, hopes to move around 2,000 cubic yards of sand per day over the next 90 days or so to complete the project.
The material is being moved from the Corps of Engineers’ temporary placement site on the northside of Wabasha to an old gravel pit a mile south of there, where it will be used to reclaim the pit for potential future uses.
The agreement is unique in terms of paying the city a tipping fee to manage the river sand as opposed to the traditional model of having the Corps hire a contractor to move the material.