Cottrell Contracting Corporation

Cottrell Contracting Corporation, a self-certified small disadvantaged business headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, operates exclusively as a prime contractor on maintenance dredging and coastal engineering projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers across Atlantic and Gulf Coast waterways. The company competes predominantly under total small business set-asides on definitive contracts and delivery orders, though a minority of its work carries no set-aside designation.

Cottrell's capability portfolio centers on hydraulic cutter suction dredging, mechanical dredging, sediment removal, beach renourishment, and dredged material placement across federal navigation channels, harbors, and coastal areas. Representative work includes a $31.4 million Delaware River and Wilmington Harbor maintenance dredging contract from USACE Philadelphia District (September 2024) covering 2.7 million cubic yards of sediment removal; a $13.92 million Rollinson and Silver Lake maintenance dredging contract from the Department of the Army (November 2025) using hydraulic cutter suction methods in North Carolina; and a $15.49 million mobilization, demobilization, and placement work contract with USACE Baltimore District (September 2022) for a multi-year coastal resilience project. The company also performs specialized work such as beach renourishment at Roosevelt Inlet to Lewes Beach (USACE Philadelphia, $4.93 million, October 2023) and Navy Fuel Pier 111 maintenance dredging at Naval Station Mayport (USACE Jacksonville, $1.51 million, August 2022).

Customer concentration is extreme and predictable. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (aggregated across all districts) accounts for 193 awards representing 77% of awards by count, though dollar concentration is driven entirely by a single $400 million single-award indefinite delivery contract with USACE Jacksonville District for South Atlantic Division maintenance dredging (awarded July 2025, running through July 2030). USACE Jacksonville alone anchors $1.94 billion in combined potential value across 20 awards — roughly 77% of Cottrell's entire $2.54 billion portfolio. USACE Norfolk District ranks second with 53 awards and $190.2 million in potential value, driven by a $30 million single-award IDC for James River maintenance dredging (awarded September 2022, ultimate completion date September 2025). The remaining Corps districts (Philadelphia, Baltimore, Savannah, Wilmington) and the Department of the Army round out the customer set with modest individual contract values. Six of the top customer entities list no USACE district affiliation and collectively carry $140 million in potential value.

Cottrell holds positions on five significant indefinite delivery contracts. The $400 million Jacksonville IDC (2025–2030) is the dominant vehicle, with delivery orders already in flight for projects including Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay dredging and Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway selective-site maintenance. The $30 million Norfolk IDC (2022–2025) has generated five delivery orders totaling $19.3 million across James River lower and middle reach operations; this contract is nearing expiration in September 2025. Additional IDCs with USACE districts carry smaller ceilings and task-order counts of seven to eleven. All five vehicles are single-award contracts set aside for small businesses.

Activity averaged roughly 8.6 awards per year over the past five years (2022–2026), with 2025 marking a spike to ten awards and 2026 showing only one award to date, though the source date is July 2026 and does not reflect mid-to-late year activity. Within the next twenty-four months, only two awards (combined potential value $16.5 million) face ultimate completion and recompete — a minimal cliff driven by the dominance of multi-year IDCs and long-duration delivery orders. Cottrell's 495 total awards span contract values ranging from $20 thousand minimum-guarantee task orders to the $400 million Jacksonville IDC ceiling; obligated spend stands at $697.3 million (27% of potential value), reflecting the early execution phase of the recently awarded Jacksonville contract and ongoing performance on large multi-year vehicles.

Work is performed across Beaufort and Chatham Counties in South Carolina, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in North Carolina and Georgia, the James River and Delaware River corridors (Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware), Jacksonville Harbor and Kings Bay in Florida and Georgia, and subordinate USACE districts throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Cottrell has maintained federal contracting relationships since 1980 according to source data and holds primary NAICS classification 237990 (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction), with PSC concentration in dredging facility construction, maintenance, and repair categories.

Successfully perform maintenance dredging, beach renourishment, and dike construction.