Officials say Dean Marine and Excavating will perform the mechanical dredging to maintain safe passage for vessels at the upstream docks.

The work is expected to be completed by July 30.

Boaters are asked to avoid the dredge and supporting operations but say a navigable path through the St. Joseph River will remain open during the work.

The work includes using a long reach excavator to remove shoaling from the channel onto a floating scow, which will then be transferred to trucks at Dock 63.

The sediment will be trucked to a site at the Southwest Regional Airport, officials said.

Officials asks the public to follow all caution tape, cones, and signs around the project for their safety.

“Inner St. Joseph Harbor is a vital port for Lake Michigan. This project continues our important work to keep recreation and commerce moving safely on West Michigan waterways,” said Brian Kootstra, resident engineer at the Grand Haven Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District.

Twenty-two-thousand cubic yards of sediment were moved from the mouth of the harbor to the southern shoreline beach at Park Street in May.