Corps of Engineers continues dredging operations near Brownsville, Minn.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, wants to remind boaters that the Mississippi River’s Crater Island will be closed during the Memorial Day weekend due to ongoing dredging activities. 

The Corps of Engineers is currently in the process of removing 150,000 cubic yards of dredged material at the temporary dredge placement site near Brownsville, Minnesota. The project is expected to last through June 13.

The material is being moved from Crater Island, a temporary dredged placement site, to a permanent location at the Brownsville Containment Site, near River Mile, 688.7. Approximately 80,000 cubic yards of dredged material will be used as fill material for the I-90 bridge project.  

The cove area at Crater Island will be reopened to the public once the dredging activities are complete. The dredging is required to restore site capacity for future hydraulic dredging needs, which are required to maintain the Mississippi River 9-foot navigation channel.

The nearly 600 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the Corps’ Fiscal Year 2015 $100 million budget, nearly 1,600 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $155 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

-30-