A long-delayed dredging project is now finally underway at Southport Harbor in Fairfield. The project will clear out a hazardous sandbar impeding access to the harbor by boat.
Land crews with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) arrived at the harbor this month with their equipment. Thursday, another crew is expected to arrive with the Murden, a 156-foot long, 35-foot-wide dredging ship.
Fairfield First Selectman Bill Gerber explained how crews will dredge the sandbar.
“They will suck the sand out of the middle to the perimeter, as far as they can go of the harbor,” Gerber said.
The Murden was supposed to arrive in Fairfield in early January, but was delayed working on similar projects in other states.
The dredging will focus at the sea entrance to the harbor, next to the Long Island Sound. Fairfield officials and residents say the project will not only make the harbor easier to navigate for boats, but will benefit the town’s recreational sector.
As for why the harbor needs the sandbar gone, Gerber said it restricts the flow of boat traffic.
“Boats sometimes can't get in and out at low tide, and they're in danger of getting stuck and sometimes, don't have the ability of two way traffic, boat coming in, boat coming out,” he said.
The project will take around four weeks, according to the USACE. The sandy dredged material will then be dumped at the Southport Harbor Nearshore Placement site.
Rotating crews will work around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in order to complete the project on time, according to the USACE. At night residents may hear the hum of the dredge vessel and see lights needed for safe operation.
Kim Taylor, the former chair of the Fairfield Harbor Management Commission, and a dredging coordinator to the town, said the last time the harbor was cleared, was after Hurricane Sandy, when the town used excavators.
But it’s the first time dredging will occur since 2004 to 2005, when the USACE last did maintenance dredging.
The town has wanted to clear out the harbor since then, but a lack of federal funding delayed it until 2022. The project, which is being funded by the federal government, will cost $1.2 million, Taylor said.
It’s going to remove a dangerous obstacle, especially for sailboats.
“Many of the smaller sailboats don't have engines at all, so they have to do what we call tack back and forth to get the wind at the right angle so that they can move through the channel,” Taylor said.
Getting better access to the harbor benefits the boats, but it's also good for the town’s local economy, said Gerber. Gerber didn’t mention a specific dollar amount on the harbor’s economic value. But said the harbor is a big recreational draw in town.
The harbor itself has been central to the town’s development since the 1700s, first as a commercial harbor, then as an attraction for recreational boating, according to the town.
But land-based residents enjoy the harbor too, said Taylor.
The town, she said, found out a few years ago in a survey, that many residents also enjoyed the view on terra-firma.
“We discovered that there were many, many, many people in town. In fact, almost as many as there are boaters who come down to enjoy walking and looking at the sound,” Taylor said.
