Silt building up in Abbeville Harbor and Terminal Boat Launch

The Abbeville Harbor and Terminal Boat Launch in Intracoastal City is having silt problems, making it a challenge for some boats to launch.
Ten years ago when the Abbeville Harbor and Terminal built the two-boat ramp in Intracoastal City, Richard Primeaux, the engineer of the project, knew one day the slip would silt up. That day has come.
Primeaux attended the harbor and terminal meeting recently to educate the commissioners of the harbor and terminal about the problem at the boat launch.
He said in the past, there was silt in the slip but it was not too bad. Boats were able to launch. Because of boat traffic and leaving and entering the slip, there was a “V” shaped channel that ran through the middle of the slip. The channel made it easier for boats to operate.
Now, with the help of storm surges from hurricanes, the “V” shaped channel is silted in. When a north wind blows in the winter months, pushing the water back into the Vermilion Bay, there is, at times, less than a foot of water in the slip.
Primeaux said the boats that launch are recreational fishing boats that only need a foot of water. Over time, silt will continue to build, making it impossible for any boats to get in or out of the slip.
In order to remove the silt from the slip, Primeaux told the commissioners the slip is going to have to be dredged in the next year.
The engineer said 4,000 yards of silt would have to be removed through dredging. The cost would be just over $70,000 if the Corps of Engineers would let the silt be placed in the middle of the Intracoastal Canal, not far from the boat launch.
If the silt has to be hauled off and disposed into the wetlands, the cost would increase, he added.
The commissioners instructed Primeaux to apply for the permit for dredging the slip. He also said the process could take nine months before a permit is granted.
In the meantime, with spring and summer approaching, more water is expected to be in the slip because of the time of year.