BALTIMORE WIDENS BREWERTON CHANNEL FOR SAFETY

BALTIMORE WIDENS BREWERTON CHANNEL FOR SAFETY    The Maryland Port Administration has started widening the Brewerton Channel to ensure safer passage of cargo ships using the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal to access the Port of Baltimore.
   The project involves widening the western five miles of the channel from 450 feet to 600 feet. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded an $18.4-million contract last August to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. of Oakbrook, Ill., to widen the channel. The agency expects to complete the project by July.
   James White, executive director of the MPA, credited the Maryland Bay Pilots, which guide vessels through the channel, for identifying the need for project a decade ago.
   The MPA said about 2.5 million cubic yards of dredged material from the project will be used to restore Poplar Island in the Chesapeake Bay.