Dredging contractors praise stimulus package

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Dredging Contractors of America (DCA) is pleased with the inclusion of $440 million of dredging projects in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stimulus funding, which it says will provide a "shot in the arm" for the maritime and boating industries.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will supply "hundreds of family wage jobs for employees of the nation's dredging and marine construction companies," DCA President Dan McDougal said in a release.

"Many of the stimulus projects are intended to restore poorly maintained projects to full project dimensions," McDougal said. "As a result, new efficient water transportation alternatives will be available to shippers and key waterfront investments will be more likely to follow."

Barry Holliday, executive director of DCA, said adding the stimulus projects to the normal workload of the Army Corps of Engineers and the dredging industry (including continued Gulf Coast recovery efforts) will be challenging, but not impossible.

"When we have faced similar challenges in the past, our working partnership with the Corps has proven invaluable," Holliday said. "If the procuring districts coordinate their projects well, we are convinced that all of this work can be underway and completed over the recovery period targeted by Congress and the administration."

The DCA is a non-profit trade association that represents the dredging industry on key issues before Congress and an active partner to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public port authorities, state and local governments, as well as allied construction and maritime organizations.
 
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