April/May 2017 – DR/NA

MARK CERRONE INC. BEGINS WORK ON BUFFALO SEWER AUTHORITY CREEK RESTORATION PROJECT

The Buffalo Sewer Authority in Buffalo New York is leading a $2.8 million restoration project on the Scajaquada Creek that includes the removal of contaminated sediment shoreline improvements and wetland enhancements.

The construction contract was awarded to Mark Cerrone Inc. of Niagra Falls New York. Dredging will remove 7500 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from Mirror Lake and more from the creek itself that will all be taken to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) on Buffalo’s Outer Harbor.

The project started last year with a feasibility study that was conducted by the Corps through the Great Lakes Remedial Action Plans Program. The program allows the Corps to provide engineering and planning assistance to projects that help restore the Great Lakes.

Eighty percent of the project cost is being funded through the Environmental Protection Agency. Additional monies include a $1185000 NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation Green Innovations Grant and $896155 in matching grant money from Forest Lawn Heritage Foundation.

The project includes $1.45 million in funding from the EPA that will remove contaminated sediment resolve flooding issues and make shoreline improvements and $155380 from the Buffalo Sewer Authority for construction. Additional partners are the Buffalo Streets and Parks Department Forest Lawn Heritage Foundation Forest Lawn Cemetery New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Environmental Facilities Corporation Buffalo Niagra Riverkeeper and Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

MANSON COMPLETES CHANNEL ISLAND MAINTENANCE

Manson Construction of Seattle Washington has completed maintenance dredging of the Channel Islands Harbor in California. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District awarded the $9.45 million contract.

Dredging in this area occurs about every two years because the harbor was designed to trap sand to be used for beach replenishment along the coast and to prevent loss to the submarine canyon off Port Hueneme.

Manson used a hydraulic cutterhead suction dredge to remove 1.54 million cubic yards of sediment from the harbor entrance.

WEEKS BEGINS WORK TO RESTORE NEW JERSEY BEACH HIT BY SANDY

Weeks Marine was awarded a $128 million contract to restore beaches and dunes in Northern Ocean County New Jersey.

The project will restore and protect the beaches that were hit by Superstorm Storm Sandy in 2012. Funding comes from the 2013 Federal Disaster Relief Appropriations Act which covers 65 percent of the cost while the state of New Jersey’s Shore Protection Fund will pay the final 35 percent.

Using multiple hopper dredges and a cutter suction dredge Weeks will pump 11 million cubic yards of sand over 14 miles of coastline. Dunes will be built 22 feet above mean sea level and beaches will be constructed from 100 to 300 feet wide at eight and a half feet above mean sea level.

Work will begin in April and continue through next fall.

J.E. MCAMIS COMPLETES WORK AT MARINA DEL RAY HARBOR

J.E. McAmis Company of Chico California recently completed dredging of the mouth of the Marina Del Ray harbor in California. The work began in December 2016.

The company’s 220-foot clamshell dredge Heidi-Renee removed 385000 cubic yards of sand returning the harbor to its established depth of 20 feet. The captured sand was dumped onto a scow the Sand Island which depositing the material about 100 yards off-shore of Dock-weiler State Beach. The scow capable of hold-ing up to 1500 cubic yards of material averaged four runs a day. The tugboat Norton Bay was also on-site.

To limit the project’s interference with boaters in the area including U.S. Coast Guard traf- dredge was positioned on spuds instead of chains or cables and moved methodically along the project area.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District awarded the contract in the amount of $2.7 million and the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors coordinated the agencies involved in the project. 

WEEKS MARINE PERFORMS ANNUAL MAINTENANCE AT SOUTHWEST PASS

Weeks Marine began maintenance dredging of the Southwest Pass in Plaquemines Louisiana for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District. The $12.2 million project began in February.

The dredging is part of the New Orleans District annual budget for dredging of the Mississippi. Approximately 17 million cubic yards of sediment are removed annually. The materials a combination of clay silt and sand removed from the dredging will be used for wetland development. Since 1985 the Corps estimates annual placement of dredge sediment from the Southwest Pass has created 14397 new acres of wetlands.

Work will be completed with a cutterhead dredge. The project should be completed by early July 2017. 

GREAT LAKES STARTS BEACH RENOURISHMENT WORK IN NEW JERSEY

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock has moved the 355-foot cutter suction dredge Texas to Hereford Inlet in New Jersey to begin beach valon. The project will place 390000 cubic yards of sand on Stone Harbor’s beachfront with an additional 320000 cubic yards dependent on additional funding.

The dredge will move to Townsend’s Inlet as the project progresses where it is expected 1.3 million cubic yards of sand will be removed from the Inlet with 940000 cubic yards of sand going to A is one of the largest in Avalon’s history.

Crew boat Swift Runner along with vari-ous bulldozers excavators and anchor barges will all be used to accomplish the dredging and  beach fill along with 174 pieces of dredge pipe.

Various surveys and required documents have been completed to prepare this beach beaches following the nor’easter that visited both communities early in January. 

BLUE GOOSE CONSTRUCTION BEGINS FLORIDA RIVER DREDGING

Blue Goose Construction of Fort Pierce Florida has begun the historical dredging of the Eau Gallie River in Melbourne Florida. The project marks the first-time muck will be   dredged from the river bottom.

Preliminary surveys by Taylor Engineering determined the muck was between 2 and 12 feet deep and the overall project would yield 632000 cubic yards of muck which will be dewatered using gravity settling on property owned by Brevard County. Once dewatered the remaining product will be transported to the landfill on Sarno Road.

It is estimated that 1200 tons of nitrogen and 260 tons of phosphorus will be removed. The muck is composed of these chemicals that are a product of sediment sand clay and organic matter that comes from untreated stormwater runoff.

Blue Goose Construction is using an Ellicott 670 Dragon 12 to 18-inch hydraulic dredge with other equipment on site including booster pumps observer boats and dredge crew work boats.

Dredging will continue through 2018 but under permit requirements will cease in restricted parts of the lagoon from November 1 to May 31 and during March and April on the Eau Gallie River and Elbow Creek for manatee protection. The permit also requires manatee observers to be on-site and for dredging to stop whenever a manatee swims within 50 feet of any dredging activity.

The total project cost is $24 million and is being funded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection ($20 million) Florida Inland Navigation Division ($3.9 million) and the City of Melbourne ($50000).

MANSON STARTS MAINTENANCE WORK IN KINGS BAY

Manson Construction Company of Seattle Washington began work on a $23.6 million project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District for the maintenance dredging of the Kings Bay entrance channel and parts of the inner channel in Camden County Georgia. The channel is used for cargo transit and also for the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay which is sponsoring the project.

The project will include beach nourishment of thenorthern part of Fernandina Beach and Fort Clinch State Park located in Nassau County Florida. Using a hopper dredge the contractor will first place about 100000 cubic yards of sand on Fort Clinch Beach. It will then move to place approximately 150000 cubic yards of sand on Fernandina Beach and 1.1 million cubic yards of non-beach compatible sand will be placed in nearshore and offshore disposal sites.

Dredging will end on March 31 to comply with environmental regulations.

CASHMAN AWARDED CONTRACT FOR BENEFICIAL USE PROJECT

As part of an agreement between New York City and New York state to improve the health of the New York City Harbor 91000 cubic yards of sediment are being dredged from Flushing Bay.

The $34 million contract awarded to Cashman Dredging of Quincy Massachusetts will include dredging a 17.5-acre area that abuts the World’s Fair Marina removal of 78 old timber piles and an abandoned pier and enhancement of over three acres of wetlands that include mudflats intertidal marsh and high marsh.

Because the area is within close proximity to La Guardia airport all activity will be coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will also be involved to monitor wildlife in the work area.

Long-reach excavators situated on floating barges will be used for the dredging. The removed sediment will be dewatered and taken offsite for disposal.

The project is estimated to be completed within the year with operations running seven days a week 24 hours per day.

WEEKS STARTS FLORIDA BEACH RENOURISHMENT AFTER STORM DELAYS

Weeks Marine of Louisiana has begun a 1.45-mile beach renourishment project in Boca Raton Florida to replace sand that has been lost to weather and erosion. Approximately 530000 cubic yards of sand will be pumped from two borrow areas located 2500 feet offshore onto the city beaches. In total the beach will increase by 170 feet.

The project originally began a year ago but stopped April through October for sea turtle nesting season and was then hampered by heavy winds and storms including Hurricane Matthew through the fall and winter.

Weeks Marine moved large metal pipes several Cat 5s and basket apparatuses to the site in early February but again had to wait for strong winds to subside before they could begin work. The company is using a hydraulic cutterhead dredge for the project.

With the operation now in progress the project is scheduled to be completed within 40 days with operations running 24 hours a day seven days a week. Weeks Marine estimates crews will cover 500 feet of beach per day. The $11 million dollar cost for the nourishment is being paid by the county state city and Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District.

GREAT LAKES DREDGE WORKS ON VIRGINIA COSTAL STORM DAMAGE REDUCTION PROJECT

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company began dredging operations for Virginia’s Willoughby Spit and Vicinity Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Project in February according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District.

The project worth $34.5 million is the largest single storm damage reduction project in the City of Norfolk. It is being 65 percent funded through federal dollars and 35 percent funded through non-federal dollars.

Construction works include placing 1.2 million cubic yards of sand dredged from the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay along 7.3 miles of shoreline widening the beach to 60 feet and creating a slope to 5 feet above mean low water. The beach area is on the southern portion of the Chesapeake Bay between Willoughby Spit and Little Creek Inlet.

With three dredges on-site the dredging and beach building operations are expected to be completed by late May.

GREAT LAKES CONSTRUCTION CO. CONTRACTED BY OHIO SEWER DISTRICT

Great Lakes Construction Co. of Hinckley Ohio was awarded a contract by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District for $1.5 million to remove 25000 cubic yards of sediment from Green Lake in Shaker Ohio.

Last dredged in 2006 the 6.5-acre pond will have depths that go from approximately 2 feet to 6 feet or more. The project also includes expansion of the eastern forebay and the addition of a new groin.

Preliminary study of the pond built in 1911 turned up artifacts from an old homestead making offsite disposal of dredged material essential. Ten to 12 trucks will make six to eight runs a day to transport the removed sediment to a disposal area in Bedford.

In preparation for the underwater disturbances and increased turbidity of the water preservationists removed two dozen turtles to another location but will return them to the pond once the project is complete.

The City of Shaker will contribute a total of $500000 to the project using funds from a surcharge on customer’s sewer bills.

CROSBY DREDGING CONTRACTED FOR HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL MAINTENANCE

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District awarded a $5.34 million small business contract to Crosby Dredging LLC for the maintenance dredging of the Houston Ship Channel.

Using a cutterhead dredge Crosby will remove 500000 cubic yards of sediment between Sims Bayou and the Turning Basin in Harris County Texas. The dredged material will be placed in the West Clinton Placement Area.

The project is to be completed by September 2017.