The Dutra Group, San Rafael, Calif., has been awarded a $28.2 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract for maintenance dredging in Lower Charleston Harbor.
The firm-fixed-price contract was awarded July 28 after an online solicitation drew four bids. Work will be performed in Charleston, S.C., with completion expected by Sept. 29, 2027. The full contract amount was obligated at the time of the award from fiscal 2026 civil operations and maintenance funding.
Dutra said the project will remove approximately 4.2 million cu. yds. of material from channel sections serving Wando Terminal, Leatherman Terminal, North Charleston Terminal, and Columbus Street Terminal. The work will return the recently deepened channels to their authorized depths.
The federal solicitation called for dredged material to be deposited at the Charleston Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site. It also requires compliance with federal endangered species and marine mammal protection requirements.
Dutra said it will use its mechanical dredging fleet for the project. The company did not identify the dredges, barges, or support vessels assigned to the contract or provide an anticipated mobilization date in its announcement.
Lower Charleston Harbor requires dredging each year, while the harbor’s entrance channel is typically dredged every other year and its upper section approximately every 15 to 18 months. The federal navigation project includes 38.6 miles of channel, three turning basins, one anchorage basin, and four dredged-material placement areas.
The Charleston District received $37 million in fiscal 2026 appropriations to dredge the Lower Harbor and entrance channel and maintain upland placement areas. The South Carolina Ports Authority serves as the project’s nonfederal sponsor.
Charleston Harbor is one of the nation’s 17 strategic ports and the fourth-busiest container port on the East Coast, according to the Corps.
