At the mouth of Shem Creek, by the public docks on Shrimp Boat Lane, sediment has been building up for years. In 2024, The Post and Courier reported that the shallows there can make the area impassable at low tide. At extremely low tides, the floating docks can "ground out" and damage the boats tied to them.
The fix starts in six weeks. On Oct. 5, Mount Pleasant's Bids and Purchases Committee hired a contractor to dig out the bottom of the creek this winter. Town staff told the committee the floating docks and fixed pier have not been dredged since 2014. The most urgent spot sits beside the shrimp boats. The boardwalk overhead has its own problems, but it gets fixed after the water underneath.
Three Spots, One Contractor, One Permit Window
According to the committee's minutes, the Town asked for bids to dredge three spots along Shem Creek and remove up to 6,520 cubic yards of material in total. Two bids came in. Banks Construction Company was the low bidder at $1,179,220, and the other bid was $1,990,700.
| Location | What staff said on Oct. 5 | Last dredged |
|---|---|---|
| Town shrimp docks | Called "the worst case" and the place that benefits most | No date given; staff said frequency varies with sediment buildup |
| Floating day dock | Added because the project was already moving forward | 2014 |
| Fixed lease docks and pier | Added for the same reason | 2014 |
The quote in the first row comes from Kevin Mitchell, the Town's deputy director of engineering and environmental. Moultrie News reported him saying: "The worst case is the shrimp docks. They'll be benefitting most from this project." He said the floats and piers would be done too, since the work was happening anyway. The shrimp docks come first, the recreational floats second. The project starts where the commercial boats tie up.
The calendar is set by the permit. Dredging is allowed from Dec. 1, 2026 through March 1, 2027, and the contract requires everything to be finished by April 1, 2027. That puts all of the digging in winter.
Two Years From Appropriation to Award
This project was planned years before the Oct. 5 vote, and the size of the job has hardly changed since:
- 2014. The Army Corps of Engineers and Mount Pleasant dredged the 90-foot-wide Shem Creek channel to its 12-foot project depth. Live 5 reported that the Corps dredge Richmond pumped the sediment through a five-mile pipeline to Morris Island.
- Spring 2024. The South Carolina Senate's FY 2024-25 budget included $1 million for "Town of Mount Pleasant - Shem Creek Sustainability/Dredging." The Post and Courier reported that Sen. Chip Campsen requested the one-time funds and that Gov. Henry McMaster approved the earmarks in July.
- July 2024. In the same Post and Courier story, Mitchell, then project manager, described removing about 6,550 cubic yards, roughly 375 dump trucks' worth, to bring the waterway to a depth of around 8 to 10 feet.
- Oct. 5, 2026. The committee awarded the contract for up to 6,520 cubic yards. Part of the funding is a federal legislative earmark, administered through an agreement between the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism and the Town. The rest comes from state appropriations of more than $1 million.
- Dec. 1, 2026 to April 1, 2027. The dredging window opens, then the completion deadline arrives.
The estimate from two years ago and the contract signed this month differ by 30 cubic yards. Between them, the state appropriation passed in 2024, a federal earmark was added through SCPRT, and the work was set to fit a dredging permit window that opens Dec. 1.
Why the Mud Leaves by Water
Mitchell told the committee the sediment will go by barge to the South Carolina Ports dredge disposal site at the tip of Daniel Island, and that the site has already been secured. He said the material would not be trucked through neighborhoods. If the 2024 comparison still holds, that keeps roughly 375 dump trucks' worth of creek bottom off the streets around Shem Creek.
He also argued the project does more for the creek than keep boats afloat. The minutes record him saying that more water exchange and removing built-up sediment improve water quality in a meaningful way, and he called it "fundamentally an environmental project." Moultrie News added that he expects removing bottom sediment to take out much of the pollution, and that a deeper cross section should improve how incoming tides flow through the creek.
Council Member Mike Tinkey asked whether the relocated Crab Bank has changed how sediment settles in Shem Creek. Staff said answering that would take a dedicated study. So this winter's dredge treats the shoaling without explaining where it comes from. How fast the floats need dredging again will depend on that answer.
Committee chair Daniel Brownstein praised staff for going after federal and state money. "It is vitally important to maintain Shem Creek," he said, according to Moultrie News, adding that he believed the project helps keep it a working waterfront.
The Floating Dock Closed First
The dredge is coming, but one of the floating docks it is meant to protect closed before the contract was awarded. On Sept. 30, ABC News 4 reported that the floating dock at Shem Creek Park was closed until further notice, and that an engineer would assess the damage and next steps.
The Town's Oct. 1 notice said the structure had been secured. A containment boom was placed in the water to catch debris from a damaged flotation component, and removal was expected by the close of business Friday, Oct. 2, depending on site conditions. The notice said the Town would determine the cause and next steps after removal and further evaluation. The boardwalk and the rest of Shem Creek Park stayed open. Count on 2 carried the same details that morning.
The Town has replaced a floating dock here recently. In 2024 the Town scheduled the public day dock at Shem Creek for replacement starting Oct. 7, 2024. That project covered a new floating dock, pile repairs and hardware, because the old dock had reached the end of its design service life. The Town has not said whether the dock damaged this fall is the same one, and no cause has been announced yet.
If you launch a paddleboard or kayak, or come in by boat, Charleston County Parks runs a separate public option nearby:
- Shem Creek Boat Landing, 515 Mill St. County Parks lists it with access to Shem Creek, accessible paved parking and routes to the launch, and a courtesy dock.
- County landing rules. The County's posted boat landing rules prohibit tying up to a floating dock for more than 15 consecutive minutes and prohibit alcohol at its landings.
The Boardwalk Is Next in Line
The same Oct. 5 meeting started the next phase. The committee approved $378,978 for GEL Engineering LLC to design replacement boardwalk in four areas across sections 1, 2 and 3. The work includes an as-built survey of the boardwalk piles, a survey of the east portion of Boardwalk 3, construction documents and a permit application package, according to Moultrie News.
Public Services Director Andy Weis said the town's bridges, boardwalks and park structures have shown deterioration over the past few inspections, enough that it is time to start making changes. He described what the design contract delivers:
"What this does for us is it gets us engineered drawings that can go out to bid. It gets the permits in place so we can start replacing things out there."
No construction contract or start date has been announced for the boardwalk. For now, Weis's department is paying for drawings and permits, and the dredge is the only work scheduled for the water this winter. The boards you walk to the docks will stay as they are this season. The creek bed beneath the shrimp docks, the floating day dock and the fixed lease docks gets dug out between Dec. 1 and March 1.
If you own near the creek and want to think through how a winter of barges and a boardwalk still in design fit your own timing, Robertson Allen can take you through it. Schedule a private market consultation.
