DETROIT – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announces work will begin on a long-planned restoration project involving the Cat Islands Chain in lower Green Bay, Wis.
Michels Foundations, from Brownsville, Wis., will begin working the more than $8.8 million contract to build the Cat Islands Chain in the bay starting October 2012 with estimated completion in 2014.
The Corps is partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Brown County and the state of Wisconsin, using a variety of funding sources, to restore the barrier island chain washed away in the 1970s by high water levels, waves and ice.
The project involves constructing 4.3 miles of stone dike ranging from four to eight feet high on Green Bay lake bed and installing concrete culverts for circulation between islands. This will constitute a dredged material disposal facility, DMDF, with 20 years of capacity for the sediments from the lower portion of the navigation channel. Contaminated material from the upper portion of the bay channel will continue to be placed in the nearby Bay Port facility.
Dredged materials deposited in the Cat Island DMDF over the coming years will gradually build three islands, expected to foster vegetation and habitat for fish and wildlife.
“We are pleased to move forward with this important project, which provides an area where dredged materials removed from the navigational channels can be deposited and also restore environmentally crucial barrier islands and wetlands ,” said Lt. Col. Robert Ells, district engineer. “Along with aiding navigation, environmental restoration is a key mission of the Corps of Engineers.”
The goal of restoring the islands is to provide beneficial use for dredged materials removed from Green Bay and strengthen the lower Green Bay ecosystem while fostering the diversity of habitat for migratory birds and various fish species. Additional expected benefits include enhancing spawning grounds for fish, creating fishing and wildlife viewing opportunities for the public.
The total project cost is estimated to be $20 million, with completion expected by fall 2014. A total of 270 acres of upland habitat, protecting 1,400 acres of shallow water behind the islands, will be created.
Note: A ground breaking ceremony for the Cat Islands Chain project will take place Oct. 25, at 11:00 a.m. and will be held at the Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve. Call 920-492-4950 or email meyer_ja@co.brown.wi.us to RSVP for the groundbreaking event.
For any additional information on the contract award, contact Lynn Rose, Detroit District public affairs officer, 313-226-4680.
Release no. 092012-01