THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997 TAG: 9701090322
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 31 lines
Unseasonably good weather earlier this week has given a city work crew time to clear much of the sand that clogged Rudee Inlet, but a warning to mariners remains in effect.
Phillip J. Roehrs, the city's coastal engineer, said Wednesday that the Rudee Inlet II, the city's dredge, worked 42 hours in open ocean to remove about 6,000 cubic yards of sand from the channel.
Unfortunately, he added, the heavy workload resulted in a mechanical malfunction to the dredge - a main clutch seized - and an expert on dredge repair was called from Baltimore to make repairs. The repairs are expected to cost about $10,000.
Before the breakdown, workers managed to clear portions of the channel to 12 feet deep, an improvement over previous conditions, when some channel areas were at 3 feet during mean low tide.
But at the seaward edge of the channel, a portion remains at 6 feet deep - too shallow to withdraw the Coast Guard warning issued last month that mariners should avoid the channel unless traveling within an hour of high tide.
Roehrs said the dredge might be repaired by early next week. If conditions permit, the final dredging can then take place.
Whale-watching tours sponsored by the Virginia Marine Science Museum, which are scheduled to begin Saturday and which require access to the sea through the inlet, should depart as scheduled, he said.