Oswego Harbor's 130-year-old breakwater will be rebuilt; Lake Ontario structure is crumbling

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to rebuild the massive Lake Ontario breakwater built more than a century ago to protect Oswego Harbor.

Congressman John Katko of the Syracuse area says the nearly $19 million project will likely start in July.

The harbor has three separate breakwaters totaling more than 10,000 feet in length. The reconstruction project will focus on the 7,000-foot-long west breakwater protecting the entrance to the Port of Oswego.

Engineers discovered the breakwater had deteriorated more than previously known after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

The Army Corps of Engineers has also agreed to begin a nearly $1.3 million dredging project in the port later this year or early next year. A nearly $800,000 dredging project was conducted last year.

Business increased at Great Lakes ports in 2014, including Oswego's.