The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a nearly $31 million contract to New Orleans-based Boland Marine & Industrial LLC for repairs to the hopper dredge Wheeler, part of the Corps’ ready reserve fleet of dredges.
Two bids were received for the job, with the firm-fixed-price contract award announced June 26. The Corps’ New Orleans District is the contracting agency.
According to the contract announcement, Boland Marine & Industrial’s work will include the inspection, maintenance, and repair of the Wheeler’s hull, steel structures, dredging equipment, propulsion system, and auxiliary systems.
“This new five-year contract keeps the dredge Wheeler fully operational so it can do what it does best — keep the Mississippi River open for business,” said Matt Roe, public affairs specialist for the New Orleans District. “By maintaining the deep-draft channel at Southwest Pass, the Wheeler plays a vital role in connecting America’s heartland to the global economy through ports along the river in south Louisiana.”
The Wheeler’s area of operation ranges from Brownsville, Texas, to Key West, Fla., Roe said, although the majority of its time is spent within its home port of New Orleans maintaining Southwest Pass, the primarily access point between the Gulf and the Mississippi River for commercial navigation. High water and low water conditions alike can cause shoaling at Southwest Pass, Roe said.
“As part of the Corps’ broader dredging portfolio, the Wheeler fills a unique readiness role that complements both private industry and dredging capacity and other government-owned floating plants,” he said. “By keeping deep-draft navigation channels open for commercial, military, and emergency response traffic, the Wheeler directly supports the reliability of the Marine Transportation System and the movement of goods through some of the nation’s most economically important waterways.”
Built at New Orleans' historic Avondale Shipyard, launched in February 1981 and commissioned September 17, 1981, the Wheeler, with its fully loaded capacity of 8,256 cubic yards of dredged material, is the largest trailing suction hopper dredge in the Corps’ fleet.
Boland Marine & Industrial’s roots go back to 1866, with the company’s headquarters, machine shop, and fabrication shop still located at 1000 Tchoupitoulas Street in downtown New Orleans. The company’s topside marine services repair facility is located within 10 miles of its headquarters, on the west bank of the Mississippi River.
Besides the Wheeler, the Corps’ ready reserve fleet includes the dredge Essayons and the dredge Yaquina, both homeported on the West Coast, and the dredge McFarland, part of the Philadelphia District. The Corps has hired Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, Fla., on a replacement for the McFarland. The new dredge will be called the Donnelly.
