Massachusetts Awards Dredging Grant to City of Beverly

The City of Beverly, Massachusetts, was awarded a $1,400,000 grant from the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development – Massachusetts Dredging Program to dredge the Bass River.

The Bass River dredge project seeks to perform maintenance dredging of the Bass River from its junction with the Danvers River to north of Bridge Street in Beverly. The project is being undertaken to restore safe and reliable navigation within the river system to preserve and grow commercial and recreational boating in the river.

The Bass River was last dredged by the Massachusetts Department of Public Works (MA DPW) in 1955.

The dredge project is broken down into two distinct phases for implementation. Phase I will include dredging of the “lower” section of the river, which is located below the Hall Whitaker Bridge to the confluence with the Danvers River. Phase II will include dredging of the “upper” river, which includes the area north of Bridge Street.

The city has received federal, state and local permits to dredge both phases of the Bass River, which includes a total dredge footprint of approximately 17.8 acres. The grant funding will allow dredging of the channel to historic depths of -9.0 feet at Mean Low Water (MLW) for the phase I area, and to -6.0 feet at MLW north of Bridge Street.

With this grant award, the city will seek to begin the first phase of dredge this fall, completing work by end of winter 2020.