NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — An eagerly anticipated project to dredge the Port of Davisville at Quonset Point is beginning.
The $7.5 million project is set to formally begin Thursday. The project is intended to allow ships to more easily access the port by ensuring a regular depth of 32 feet below the low water line.
The Davisville channel has not been dredged since the port was constructed in the 1940s.
The project is being paid for using revenue from the port, which is one of the nation’s largest handlers of imported automobiles. About 150,000 cars are brought to the port by ship every year.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee (CHAY’-fee) and House Speaker Gordon Fox plan to mark the start of the project at a ceremony Thursday.
Quonset Point is home to 168 companies and 8,800 jobs.
