Mike Hooks Wins $34 Million Calcasieu River Ship Channel Dredging Contract

Mike Hooks LLC of Westlake, Louisiana, has won a firm-fixed-price contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District for maintenance dredging in the Calcasieu River Ship Channel and placement of dredged material in designated marsh creation areas. The award action is valued at $34.1 million, and the contract has a total potential value of $36.5 million. Work will be performed near Hackberry, Louisiana, with completion estimated for July 26, 2027.

Calcasieu River and Pass Maintenance Dredging Details

Mike Hooks will remove sediment from the ship channel and place it in Sabine Cycle 6 marsh creation areas within the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge and adjacent to the Calcasieu River and Pass. The project is identified as covering river miles 5 to 17; the revised dredging schedule places the main channel excavation between miles 6 and 17 and estimates 3.22 million cubic yards of material for placement at Sabine Sites 7A and 7B.

To contain that material, Mike Hooks will construct 16,500 linear feet of retention dikes at Site 7A and 17,700 linear feet at Site 7B. The project specifications also call for dredging surveys, staging areas and aerial photography documenting the work.

The broader contract scope includes potential dredging at Devil’s Elbow, estimated in the revised schedule at 900,000 cubic yards, along with work on confined disposal facilities and drainage of disposal areas. The Corps’ dredged-material management plan describes maintenance of the Calcasieu River and Pass channel as recurring work; the alternating maintenance schedule for its inland reaches includes the miles covered by this award.

Award and Contractor Background

The Corps received six bids, according to its bid abstract for the September 18, 2026, opening. Mike Hooks submitted the lowest total bid at $36.5 million. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company submitted the next-lowest bid, at $41 million.

Mike Hooks previously held a Calcasieu River and Pass maintenance dredging contract for the mile 6-to-17 reach, with a potential value of $26.1 million and a potential performance end in July 2024. Inland Dredging Company also received an earlier Corps award valued at $20.6 million for dredging the mile 5-to-17 reach. Both awards involved the same channel area covered by the new contract.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under W912P826CA058 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.