The Portland Harbor and Fore River dredging project is expected to be completed this week after the Massachusetts-based contractor hired for the job was granted an extension by the federal government.
Portland’s deputy harbormaster, Lance Hanna, said Sunday night that Cashman Dredging of Quincy, Mass., is on schedule to complete its work by the deadline Tuesday.
The project was supposed to have been finished by March 15. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the project, granted the company a 10-day extension.
Hanna said the company may need a couple of days to do some cleanup work, but should have all of its equipment removed from the Portland and South Portland waterfronts by the end of the week.
Hanna said Cashman Dredging began taking apart one of its harbor cranes on Sunday in preparation for its departure. The company is scheduled to move on to New Haven, Conn., where it will dredge a harbor clogged with sand and sediment stirred up by Superstorm Sandy.
In December, a crew of workers began removing lobsters from the harbor and taking them to an undisclosed location on the other side of Fort Gorges. The lobster relocation effort had to be done before the dredge barge could start digging. Hanna said about 1,500 lobsters were protected from harm.
The federal government will spend more than $9 million on the dredging project.
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