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MANCHESTER WATERWAY
CHARLOTTE HARBOR

This little site is to inform Manchester Waterway users of any current issues including the location of known shoals, hazards to navigation and any information gleaned about Charlotte County's plans for our waterway. (see note*) I hope you find it useful. Please drop me a note at

with any suggestions for improvements

patrick.randall@comcast.net

LATEST NEWS

12/19/08 Stemic will stop work noon Christmas Eve and resume on the following Monday morning. Please try to time your entry/exit for when they are unloading spoil. You can easily see the barge from Midway - they have a cycle time of about an hour to dredge and return to the old lock site and unload. The S bend comletion is scheduled for January.

11/20/08 Some dredging has been done at the S bend but this is now on hold and work being done on the connector canal as the barge is too big for the turn at the Midway bridge. Be aware there is still only 4ft at MLW at the S bend.

10/21/08 The change order was signed last week and the contractor is starting to dredge. I believe they will be working their way in from the Harbor dogleg. Beware markers with pink ribbons and of course, be prepared to meet a dredge barge around a corner. I have asked they do the S bend as a priority.

10/08/2008 Stemic are almost finished with the NEB items and will be starting their clean-up dredge in the next 1-2 weeks. Tara has raised a change order to the lock project to take advantage of the extremely good rate of $35/cu yd and perform maintenance dredging to 5ft depth where needed in the arterial canals and in the Flamingo and Como canals.A recent bathy survey has shown there is 5ft available pretty well all the way out to the harbor but not at full channel width in some places. This will be addressed with the upcoming dredge.
Note that the S bend before the harbor is shoaled right the way across again in the usual place and is at about 4ft at mlw.
We plan to widen the channel on the Midway Curve to 50ft by removing the boulders on the outside of the bend. Coastal Engineering have surveyed the area and believe that Stemic will be able to handle the rocks with their regular excavating machinery. Stemic will be transitioning their barge to dredge mode soon so beware their operations.
Remember to signal with a long blast on your horn when approaching blind corners as in the entrance to the Manchester and at the Midway curve. GIVE WAY TO BOATS BEING CARRIED BY THE CURRENT.