The Upper Newport Bay is home to endangered plants and animals, including two bird species, the least tern and the clapper rail. Water flowing into the bay from inland carries sediment that slowly fills in the bay and destroys the birds' wetland habitat.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages much of the upper bay, spearheaded a $39 million dredging and restoration project that started in April, 2006. The portion DD-M is under contract to complete is expected to wrap up around October, Hunt said.
So far, much of the work has been to deepen channels around the bay, and workers have cleared vegetation from Shellmaker Island and used dredged material to cap "hot dog tern island," so called because of its shape. Hunt said the work also includes building a new island for least terns that should be ready in time for nesting season next year.
"It's taking these nesting islands and turning them back onto islands," he said. "At low tide, you had these land bridges, so terrestrial predators were able to get on there."
The silt is removed from the bay by two pieces of equipment: a suction dredge and a "clamshell" dredge, which essentially uses a large claw to grab material and move it onto a scow. The clamshell dredge can move about 3,000 cubic yards of silt a day, and when the scow is full it moves to an offshore dump site.
The work continues 24 hours a day and scows are constantly cycling in and out of the work area to remove the dredged material. Some of it goes to a disposal site 5 miles southwest of the Newport Harbor entrance, and some that gets dumped offshore from Newport will eventually wash back in to replenish the city's beaches, Hunt said.
Strange things sometimes turn up along with the sand and soil. Anyone who's kayaked in the back bay has seen what looks like a graveyard of shopping carts covered with mud and plants.
