PORT ANGELES – The Port of Port Angeles is going to take on a major bit of housecleaning next year to the tune of about a million dollars.

Terminal 3, the Port’s primary cargo pier, hasn’t been dredged since 1976 and sediment has built up to the point where some of the high spots have become a concern.

Director of Engineering Chris Hartman says they’ll bring in a contractor to do the work from a barge, and they should be able to do it without disrupting business.

“The project will be in-between ship calls. And so there’s…the total project length is maybe four to six weeks, the actual dredging work to remove approximately 13,000 yards of sediment that’s built up over time. You know, both the sediment buildup and the vessels have gotten larger over the years, so taking this back down to minus-45 should put the berth in good shape for the next 30-40 years.”

Hartman says the sediment will be loaded from a barge into trucks and hauled away. He says they’ll call for contractor bids in the first quarter of 2020 with the intention of getting the work done in the summer of 2020. The million-dollar price tag will be coming out of the Port’s 2020 operating budget.

(Port of Port Angeles photo of Terminal 3)