Michigan Marine Firm Awarded $20 Million Army Dredging Deal for Toledo Harbor
Morrish-Wallace Construction Inc. received a firm-fixed-price contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge Toledo Harbor and River, with work due by August 2, 2028.
CHEBOYGAN, MICHIGAN — Morrish-Wallace Construction Inc., a Cheboygan, Michigan marine builder that operates as Ryba Marine Construction Co., received a $20 million Army contract to dredge Toledo Harbor and River, as announced on war.gov.
The firm-fixed-price award drew a single bid solicited over the internet. Work locations and funding will be set with each task order, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in its August 3, 2026 contract notice. The Corps set an estimated completion date of August 2, 2028, and its Buffalo, New York district serves as the contracting activity under identifier W912P4-26-D-A005.
The deal marks the largest contract ever awarded to Morrish-Wallace Construction Inc., surpassing a prior record of $16 million. It is the company’s first Department of Defense award of 2026 and the 29th such contract booked in Michigan this year. The award landed among 15 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide that day.
Founded in the late 1930s and headquartered on Lake Huron, the company provides heavy civil marine construction across the United States, according to tugboatinformation.com. Its work spans environmental remediation, break walls, pile driving, dock construction, and mechanical and hydraulic dredging. It runs a fleet of tugs and excavator-mounted spud barges and lists an active federal carrier registration in Cheboygan, according to dot.gov.
Dredging keeps commercial shipping lanes deep enough for cargo vessels, and Toledo Harbor ranks among the busiest ports on the Great Lakes for bulk commodities such as coal, grain, and iron ore. Sediment carried by the Maumee River settles into the harbor and navigation channel each year, and periodic removal protects the passage of freighters. Shippers, port operators, and manufacturers along the western Lake Erie shore benefit when the channel stays clear, while delays or shoaling raise costs for the same users.
Federal dredging of Great Lakes harbors is a recurring obligation, not a one-time project. The Corps maintains dozens of commercial harbors across the region, and Toledo consistently requires large volumes of material removed to hold its authorized depth. The single bid on this solicitation reflects the small pool of firms equipped for large-scale Great Lakes marine work.
For the average reader in the region, harbor maintenance shapes the flow of raw materials that feed steel mills, power plants, and grain exporters. Moving those goods on schedule holds down freight costs passed to consumers.
This has happened before. Federal maintenance dredging of Toledo Harbor repeats on a regular cycle, and specialized contractors compete for the multi-year task-order deals that fund the work as sediment accumulates each season.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District will direct the schedule and issue individual task orders under the contract, though a date for the first order has not been announced.
Dredging the Great Lakes has drawn government hands for well over a century, as happened before. Congress authorized major harbor improvements across the region under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, and federal crews have kept Toledo’s Maumee channel open since the port grew into a coal and grain gateway in the late 1800s. The Corps of Engineers, formally established in 1802, absorbed civil navigation duties that expanded through the 19th century. Each successive generation of contractors inherited the same fight against silt that the earliest engineers faced on the lakes.
This contract represents the 1st contract awarded to Morrish-Wallace Construction Inc., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $20,000,000. It is also the 29th Department of Defense contract awarded in Michigan during 2026. This is the largest contract ever awarded to Morrish-Wallace Construction Inc., surpassing the company’s previous record of $16,000,000, and it is notable within the Army portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Army portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,051,490 and maximum of $53,859,843,289. Overall, this award was announced among 15 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 3, 2026.
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