Dredging will start up again next week

Dredging in Upper Newport Bay will resume once a series of bad storms passes over the area, city officials said this week.

Next week, workers are expected to begin dredging out an area of the Upper Bay near Jamboree Road, using an excavator on a barge to scoop out sediment from the bottom of the bay.

The dredging project is slated for completion at the end of 2010, Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said.

“Once the excavation restarts, there is a one-year shot clock to completion,” Daigle said.

Congress approved $17.3 million in federal stimulus money to finish dredging in Upper Newport Bay in 2009.

An additional $1.6 million in this year’s federal budget will go toward preliminary studies and engineering work to begin dredging Newport Harbor.

— Brianna Bailey