Bids for a marina maintenance dredging project have been requested by the City of Des Moines. The deadline for contractors to submit their bids is Aug. 14 at 2 p.m.

"It's a fairly simple project. It's not complicated at all - just expensive," notes Harbormaster Joe Dusenbury. The estimated price tag for the project, which is expected to begin by early September and be completed by late fall, is $750,000.

The dredging project is the first major step toward implementing the revised Marina Master Plan, which was adopted earlier this year by the Des Moines City Council.

Dusenbury says while dredging "is not a big issue" in the Puget Sound area because of water depths, "enough sediment accumulates in the marina harbor every 10 to 15 years that we have to go in and take it out."

He estimates that 8,700 cubic yards of sediment needs to be dredged out.

"The bad news is that the cost of dredging has escalated at a rate much greater than background inflation," Dusenbury says.

In 1994, the last time the marina harbor was dredged, the project cost about $200,000.

This year, environmental testing on the sediment, design and permitting alone cost $191,000. The actual work is expected to cost about $549,000.

"The message is that while dredging is an infrequent occurrence, it's gotten a lot more expensive and we need to start long-range budgeting for it," he concludes.