Scarcity of Dredges Could Make Rebuilding Louisiana's Coast Slower and More Expensive

By Tristan Baurick

Times-Picayune / New Orleans Advocate

Just as Louisiana begins an ambitious slate of projects to rebuild its crumbling coastline, the essential ingredients — sea sand and river silt — will be harder to come by.

That’s not because these materials are rare; the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi River are loaded with the stuff. But the dredges needed to dig up and move sand, silt and sediment are increasingly scarce.

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Avery Davidson