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Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral SFS are surrounded by waterways, which have been vital for shipping large components from manufacturers to the launch sites. Do these waterways get periodically dredged?

This answer mentions dredging after storm damage, but here I am asking about more routine maintenance.

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This touches earth science and navigation as well :-)

The whole area is surrounded by restricted areas and danger zones, for obvious reasons. So probably not too much traffic in the direct vicinity of the pads.

https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@10&key=kyhlD%60zxjN

But channels like the one leading into Port Canaveral certainly need constant maintenance (replacing buoys and signs ...) and dredging, given the close Gulf stream and it's loops and eddies and eventually longitudinal coastal currents that carry sand and mud.

How often I do not know, depends on sediment freight and deposition, maybe multiple times a year, after storms or even constantly at different spots. There would be Navtex-messages to mariners should there be work involving dredging operations and ships that are restricted in their maneuvrability, temporarily blocked channels, or generally areas temporarily closed.

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  • $\begingroup$ "How often I do not know, " isn't that what the question is? Providing some info on that would be more responsive to what was asked. I don't know either, but I wouldn't write an answer to say that. $\endgroup$
    – Organic Marble
    Commented Apr 28, 2021 at 20:39
  • $\begingroup$ @OrganicMarble: When it is necessary, when it becomes a potential danger or obstruction to marine traffic, as a preventive measure or whatever else may make it necessary or the harbour authority sees fit. Neither storms nor currents nor sediment freight and deposition have technical norms and a few meters can make differences in a shallow coastal environment. Think Bernoulli and constant change. But I would not expect there to be a specific study for exactly that area and current conditions. $\endgroup$
    – user40414
    Commented Apr 28, 2021 at 21:05
  • $\begingroup$ you may also be interested in adding an answer How soon will LC-39A be at significant risk to storm-surge damage? $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Apr 28, 2021 at 23:25

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