Ketchikan applies for permit to blast underwater rock

KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – Ketchikan officials are looking to remove part of an underwater rock to expand the waterway’s safe navigable area for cruise ships docking at the city.

The Ketchikan Daily News reports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a public notice Monday on the city’s application to remove the rock.

The application calls for 25 to 50 blasts over a period of up to 50 days to remove about 15 vertical feet (4.5 meters) of rock.

The city aims to conduct the blasting between November 2019 and March 2020 to “avoid and minimize impacts to both the city’s existing summer cruise season and the environment.”

According to the notice, an experienced contractor would conduct only one blast per day with the maximum weight of explosives set at 75 pounds (34 kilograms).
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Information from: Ketchikan (Alaska) Daily News, http://www.ketchikandailynews.com