Massachusetts Dredging Program

The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) is pleased to announce the opening of the inaugural round of the Massachusetts Dredging Program. This is the Commonwealth’s first standalone grant program to offer focused funding for saltwater dredging on a competitive, annual basis. All Massachusetts coastal communities are eligible to apply.

The Massachusetts Dredging Program offers construction-phase funding to coastal municipalities for saltwater dredging projects. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis, with a focus on shovel-ready projects that contribute to the economic significance, recreational value, public safety, and/or coastal resiliency of the Commonwealth’s coastal harbors.

Applications for the Massachusetts Dredging Program 2019 grant round are due May 1, 2019. Potential applicants are invited to attend an information session on April 17, 2019, at 11:00 AM at One Ashburton Place, 21st Floor, Conference Room 3, Boston. Please RSVP to eohedgrants@mass.gov with the subject line “Dredging Info Session.”

For complete program requirements and application instructions, please refer to the RFP available at mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-massachusetts-dredging-grant.

Engineering Research and Development Center Range Finding Study

The Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) has begun a ‘range-finding’ study to determine effects of sedimentation of clean sediment on winter flounder eggs and early life stages.  A major concern cited is the generation of suspended sediments near dredging operations to which a wide range of adverse effects,  including fish migration spawning, oyster and clam survival and reproduction and aquatic plant survival, have been attributed.

Continue Reading →