Sheboygan River dredging operations and habitat restoration activities are under way. Learn more about projects to remove navigation sediments and PCB contamination, and restore fish and wildlife habitat in the Sheboygan River. Video report now online. Also see: Wisconsin Areas of Concern information and resources for citizens; Wisconsin Areas of Concern official maps, records and reports; Sheboygan River canoe and kayak trips; Sheboygan River Basin Partnership; All Great Lakes Areas of Concern information; The Sheboygan River Explorer newsletter; and coming soon, narrated presentations on a variety of Sheboygan River cleanup and restoration topics.

Superfund Project DredgingThe on-going Superfund dredging project conducted by Pollution Risk Services (PRS), initiated in 2011, will continue throughout the summer and be completed later this year. The hydraulic dredging by PRS is being performed from the 8th Street Bridge to Penn Avenue Bridge, with sediment being piped to a dewatering site upstream.

USEPA Legacy Act Dredging Project
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has issued a task order to Ryba Marine Construction Co. – Terra Contracting, A Joint Venture (Ryba-Terra) to dredge the Sheboygan River between the 8th Street bridge and Kiwanis Park. The work is being performed by Ryba- Terra under the USEPA Great Lakes Legacy Act and is one of three dredging projects to be conducted on the Sheboygan River in 2012.

Sediment dredging conducted by Ryba-Terra will begin in early August 2012 from the 8th Street Bridge to Kiwanis Park. Ryba-Terra began construction of the sediment de-watering site to support the upstream dredging project in July at the WINSA site (formerly Alliant Energy), immediately west of the 8th Street bridge. Equipment and materials are currently arriving on a daily basis. Marine equipment was being mobilized during the week of July 9th and will arrive in Sheboygan shortly. This equipment will consist of sediment transport barges, sectional barges, dredging barges and work tugs. Construction of an unloading platform along the shoreline is anticipated to begin the week of July 17th. Dredging operations will start in early August and continue through November. Truck traffic from this project will be using the 8th Street Rotary and Indiana Avenue.

For more information on the planned work and anticipated project milestones of the upstream work, please visit the web site, http://www.sheboyganriverremedialaction.com

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has issued a task order to EQM, for the Harbor dredging project, to be conducted below the 8th Street bridge to the mouth of the river. The Harbor dredging project will remove low-impact sediment and will provide a 10-16 foot navigation channel. USEPA and EQM will be using a Redevelopment Authority-owned parcel of land on South Pier directly west of the City’s fish cleaning station at the entrance to the pier as well as a 0.87 acre parcel of land across from this parcel as de-watering and construction staging sites. Truck traffic from this project will be using the 8th Street Rotary and Indiana Avenue.

Construction of the de-watering site for the Harbor project will begin in early August along South Pier Drive adjacent to the fish cleaning station. Dredging will start in late August and will continue through November.
All dredging activities will be operating 24 hours per day, 7 days of the week.

Fish and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Projects
The City of Sheboygan has awarded a $4,522,212 contract to Lee & Ryan a Greenfield, Indiana firm to complete the fish and wildlife habitat projects at Kiwanis Park, Wildwood Island and Taylor/Indiana Avenue intersection. Work is scheduled to begin August 9, 2012 and be completed near the end of the year.

You may be wondering about the purpose of the large log pile being stored near the Municipal Service Building on New Jersey Avenue. These logs will be used as part of this project to create a man-made crib wall for fish habitat at the Wildwood Islands.Funding for this project provided by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Targeted Invasive Species Control Project
The City of Sheboygan and Sheboygan County representatives are partnering with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to contact property owners along the Sheboygan River to gain permission to access properties to treat the invasive species. This four year project focuses primarily on treating four invasive species: Phragmites, Japanese Knotweed, Buckthorn, and Garlic Mustard. The goal is to control 60 sites along the river. The initial removal effort will begin in August and likely be completed by October 2012. The success of the treatments will be monitored and any additional treatments will be conducted from the spring of 2013 through the fall of 2015.

Funding for the Targeted Invasive Species Control Project is provided by a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative habitat restoration grant. Treatment of the four species on the selected properties is provided at no cost to the landowner.

Questions pertaining to these projects can be directed to the Department of Planning and Development, City of Sheboygan, 828 Center Avenue, Suite 104, Sheboygan, WI 53081, (920) 459-3377, visit www.cityofsheboygan.info or by email at development@ci.sheboygan.wi.us