The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin annual Grays Harbor maintenance dredging in the Outer Harbor April 10, postponing the original April 1 start date.

No reason was given for the postponement. Working around-the-clock through April 26, the Army Corps’ hopper dredge vessel Yaquina will dredge the Grays Harbor Entrance, Point Chehalis and South Reach channels. The Yaquina will place dredged materials at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources-managed Point Chehalis open water disposal sites and the Half Moon Bay nearshore beneficial use site.

A second Corps hopper dredge, the Essayons, is scheduled to arrive sometime in mid-April and work through early May to dredge the Grays Harbor Bar, Entrance and Point Chehalis reaches. The Essayons will place dredged materials at the South Beach nearshore beneficial use site and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources-managed Point Chehalis open water disposal sites.