CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS: DE-AL
APPROPRIATION / PHASE: Operation & Maintenance, General
BUSINESS PROGRAM: Navigation
LOCATION: Project is located at Indian River Inlet, Delaware.
DESCRIPTION: The project was authorized in 1937 (R&H Doc 41, 75th Cong, 1st Session) and modified in 1945 (HD 330, 76th Cong, 1st Session). The project authorization includes stabilizing the inlet by construction of parallel jetties 500 ft apart; the dredging of a channel generally 200 ft wide and 15 ft deep from the inner ends of the jetties to a point in the Bay substantially 7000 ft from the ocean shoreline, dredging a channel 9 ft deep, 100 ft wide in the Bay and 80 ft wide in the River, from that depth in the existing channel in Indian River Bay to and including a turning basin 9 ft deep, 175 ft wide and 300 ft long at Old Landing; then about 8200 ft to highway bridge at Millsboro, 60 ft wide, 4 ft deep.
PROJECT GOALS: The purpose of this project provides safe navigation channel for commercial, recreational and U.S. Coast Guard use. Indian River Inlet is the only water access point into the Delaware Inland Bay area that includes Indian River Bay and Rehoboth Bay.
ONGOING ACTIVITIES: USACE awarded a contract to repair a failed bulkhead area along a popular recreational area and sand tighten a portion of the south jetty. This work was funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Construction will likely begin in Spring 2023.
PROJECT MANAGER: Monica Chasten