The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project will clear a 10 to12-foot depth along the route between the ferry facilities on Hatteras and Ocracoke.

The dredge Richmond is working its way toward Ocracoke. The closest section of the route to Hatteras has been finished, and weather permitting, the next section could wrap up by early next week. The project is considered more than 65 percent complete and a survey next week is expected to offer an update on the progress.

The dredging project began in early December, but shallow channel conditions forced the suspension of the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry route on Jan. 18. An alternate route between the two docks began operations today, and will continue until the channel has been cleared enough to allow the regular route to be used again. 

For more information about the Hatteras ferry route, travelers can sign-up to receive messages on Twitter by going towww.twitter.com/ncdot_ferry or visit the N.C. 12 Facebook page.