Lewes-Rehoboth Canal dredging set for 2026
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District has announced it awarded a $9.6 million contract to Cottrell Contracting Corporation of Chesapeake, Va., to conduct dredging of the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal.
The contract calls for dredging about 90,000 cubic yards of sediment from an area near the Freeman Highway bridge in Lewes to the entrance of the canal at Rehoboth Bay. In 2024, the Army Corps managed a separate contract to dredge the northern portion of the canal from Roosevelt Inlet to the Freeman Highway bridge. Prior to that, the canal had not been dredged since 2002.
Dredged sediment will be pumped to two placement sites between the canal and Lewes Beach. Dredging can only be conducted between October and March due to environmental windows. Work is scheduled to begin in October 2026, but may start as early as October 2025.
The Lewes-Rehoboth Canal includes a shallow-draft federal navigation channel. The waterway is utilized by both commercial and recreational users, research vessels and the Delaware Bay and River Cooperative, whose mission is oil spill emergency response/cleanup for events in the Delaware River and Bay.
