The Dredge McFarland, based out of Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia, completed 62 days of urgent dredging at the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River 90 miles south of New Orleans. The McFarland, one of four Army Corps owned and operated deep-draft hopper dredges, arrived in the Gulf at the end of March and worked through the end of May. The dredge was called upon because critical shoals impacted navigation along the Mississippi River. High river stages occurred, which increased shoaling at the mouth of the river.