Another round of Intracoastal Waterway dredging gets underway in N.J.

Another round of dredging along a stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway through New Jersey is underway.

The Barnegat Bay Dredging Company is currently conducing dredging in a federal channel between markers 386 and 397 west of Avalon and Stone Harbor in Cape May County, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District news release.

Sediment from the waterway will be pumped onto Gull and Sturgeon islands.

“Mariners should be aware of pipeline and associated equipment and proceed with caution in the area. Work is estimated to continue through late October,” the release said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the program late last year to dredge “critical shoals” along the Intracoastal Waterway over the course of a year. Shoals are commonly known as shallow areas that pose a hazard to navigation.

Stephen Rochette, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman, has said the Army Corps has previously dredged the Intracoastal Waterway and used the material on internal islands, including Mordecai Island, Ring Island, Great Flats, near Stone Harbor and Avalon.

The federal dredging is in addition to a New Jersey-led program that has included a series of projects since 2014, clearing channels that were severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000-mile inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts.