Survey vessels and dive crews will be working along the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland starting Monday, October 26, as the Port of Cleveland begins its 2026 bulkhead assessment, a check of the walls and structures that hold the river’s banks in place along the city’s working waterfront. The Port said the work will run through November 9 at locations along the river.
The assessment is being done under the Port’s Harbor Services agreement with the City of Cleveland. Marine Solutions will conduct the field work, which the Port described as an evaluation of critical maritime infrastructure. Riverfront property owners and vessel operators may see survey vessels and dive crews at work throughout the river while the project is underway.
The work will move generally from Lake Erie south along the Cuyahoga River. Sonar imaging operations come first, scheduled from October 26 through November 1, using sound-based imaging to examine bulkhead conditions below and along the waterline without putting divers in the river at every location.
Diving inspections are scheduled to follow from November 3 through November 9. Those closer, in-water inspections allow crews to look directly at sections of bulkhead that sonar suggests need a more detailed check, helping engineers understand the condition of the structures that protect docks, industrial sites and other riverfront property.
Bulkheads are a largely unseen part of Cleveland’s port economy. The vertical walls line long stretches of the navigable river, keeping banks stable where ships turn, dock and load, and where businesses and public infrastructure sit close to the water. If a section weakens, repairs are far easier to plan when the problem is found during a scheduled assessment rather than after visible damage.
The Port cautioned that the schedule may change depending on vessel traffic, weather, site conditions and operational progress. A working river cannot be paused for inspections, so survey and dive work has to fit around the ships and crews that keep moving cargo through Cleveland Harbor and up the Cuyahoga.
The Port said the assessment is an important step in understanding the condition of critical maritime infrastructure and supporting a safe, reliable working waterfront for the businesses, industries and communities that depend on it. It thanked riverfront property owners, vessel operators and community partners for their cooperation during the work, which wraps up November 9 if conditions allow the current schedule to hold.
Photo: Tim Evanson, CC BY