September/October – DR/NA

Corps Buffalo District Survey Team Assists in Alaska
This summer the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District received assistance from the Buffalo District survey team who conducted project condition surveys (PCS) in Aurora and Harris harbors in Juneau and the North Harbor in Petersburg. The work was conducted in June. 
PCS’s are used to determine if project conditions in federal navigation channels have altered through shoaling or other processes enough to require maintenance dredging. The team rented a 26-foot boat and portable multi-beam sonar system which was used to show a three-dimensional map of the harbor floor. Data was collected from the 256 sonar beams is being analyzed and will be converted to a map using a computer-aided drafting program.
The Buffalo District survey team included two two-person crews one on land and one in the water who worked independently during high and low tide events. During low tide the deep water portion of the federal channel and the tidal flats were surveyed while during high tide the crews surveyed the entire federal channel and the location of all upland docks. 
The team routinely conducts 36 PCS surveys each year providing assistance to other districts as well as working within the Buffalo District. They provide experienced surveyors to fill in for Districts that do not have staff who can conduct PCS’s.  
A variety of survey services is available for interagency international or within-agency work. For more information about the survey team visit the Buffalo District website at http://www.lrb.usace.army.mil/Missions/Interagency-Support/Survey-Capabilities/
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District did project condition surveys in Juneau Alaska (seen here) and North Harbor in Petersburg.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District did
project condition surveys in Juneau Alaska (seen
here) and North Harbor in Petersburg.

Sand from Superstorm Sandy Finally Being Removed from Menemsha Channel
The long-overdue dredging of Menemsha Channel in Martha’s Vineyard Massachusetts began in mid-September. 
The channel which was designated a harbor of refuge in 1945 shoaled to under three feet in some areas after Superstorm Sandy making it unsafe for passage. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District funded the $2.2 million project from the $50 billion Hurricane Sandy relief fund but delays due to permit approval and nagging equipment failures set back the project for several years.  
Despite some early concerns by stakeholders that worried about the dredging impact on the local scallop fishery and the impact of more frequent visits by larger vessels the Corps planned to move forward with the project in October 2014. However permit delays pushed the start date back to September 2015. 
That’s when Hurricane Joaquin delayed the arrival of the contracted dredging company who could not begin to dredge until January 2016 at which time equipment failure halted the project. In January 2017 dredging had to shut down again to comply with state permits prohibiting dredging during winter flounder migration. 
After two years of delay the Corps hired a new company H & L Dredging of New York to take over the project. H & L Dredging of New York will remove 39000 cubic yards

of sand to clear the channel to an eight-foot depth at mean low tide and widen it to 80 feet. The dredged sand will be pumped through two miles of pipeline to Lobsterville Beach which has been eroding. The channel was last dredged in the 1970’s.
Mobilization began in mid-September and dredging is scheduled to start on Oct. 1. It’s estimated the job will take between four and five weeks to complete. 

Corps Works to Open Popular Swimming Area in Vermont
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District commissioned the dredging of Townshend Dam in Townshend Vermont after ongoing sedimentation and low-water problems chased visitors away from this previously popular recreation spot. 
More than 7000 cubic yards of sediment was removed in July following a draw-down of the water level to make the bottom more accessible. The lake was last dredged in 2013 after large amounts of sediment had accumulated by the dam following Hurricane Irene’s floodwaters. The sediment from Irene continues to build at the dam each year creating an ongoing problem. The lake is just one to two feet deep in some locations. 
Last year the Corps surveyed the lake to quantify the volume of accumulated sediment but there are limited funds for continual dredging for recreation. The primary purpose of the dam since it was built in 1961 has been for flood control and the floodwater capacity of the dam has not changed with the sediment. 
Windham County’s lawmakers and Vermont’s representatives have been approached for assistance but no solutions have been found. The sediment has forced the closure of the beach area impacting not only the recreational users but also the local economy. 

Roen Salvage Removes Bedrock from Calumet Harbor
Under a $6053900 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District Roen Salvage Company of Wisconsin began removing naturally occurring dolomitic bedrock in Calumet Harbor on August 10. 
The Calumet Harbor and River is comprised of four channels in Indiana and Illinois with authorized depths of 27 to 29 feet below low water datum. Approximately 12153 linear feet of steel sheet pile and timber crib breakwaters protect the harbor. 
The harbor is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District who issued an Environmental Impact Assessment on the bedrock removal for public comment in August 2016. No issues arose from the public review so the project moved forward. The naturally occurring rock has prevented full maintenance of the channels to allow the passage of deep draft vessels during low lake levels. 
Work includes underwater rock blasting and placement of rock by excavator or dredge barge onto another barge. The dredge barge is spudded down to allow the blasting barge to sit alongside. An attendant tug moves the barge to a nearby breakwater where rock is unloaded with a crane. 
The project will run through December 2017 stop for the winter and then begin again in spring 2018. 

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Clears Channels in New Jersey for Emergency Response
In mid-August Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company (GLDD) began dredging the Forked River and Barnegat Bay channels in New Jersey as part of a $2.5 million project to keep key channels maintained for safe navigation and for emergency response during events such as Superstorm Sandy. 
Dredging is being done on Forked River Forked River Middle Branch and Spur the South Spur and the “Elks” channel. All locations were identified as priorities in the 2014 survey “State Channel Dredging and Emergency Response Program” that was conducted through the New Jersey Department of Transportation. 
GLDD is using its 16-inch hydraulic cutter head dredge Commodore along with three booster pumps with 15000 linear feet of 18-inch pipe including sub-line shore and floating pipe. Approximately 43000 cubic yards of sediment will be removed and transported to the Oyster Creek Confined Disposal Facility. 
The work is expected to wrap at the end of September the DOT reported.  

Marinex Performs Emergency Beach Fill on South Island
To alleviate erosion and re-establish dunes lost from Hurricane Matthew Hilton Head Island South Carolina is having 300000 cubic yards of sand pumped onto the South Island beachfront under the South Island Emergency Beach Fill project. The project began in late August. 
Marinex Construction of Charleston South Carolina received the $3.8 million contract for the work which was funded by the Hilton Head Beach Preservation fund. Using the cutterhead suction dredge Savannah Marinex is pushing sand through submerged pipelines to cover about 12000 feet of beachfront at 500 feet per day. The project is expected to be completed by early October. 

Two Year Dredging Project in Rochester Harbor Wraps Up 
Under a $1.7 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District Luedtke Engineering Company of Frankfort Michigan completed the dredging of Rochester Harbor in New York in June. 
The project began in May 2016 with a hiatus during the winter months. The two-year project removed 390000 cubic yards of sediment 180000 from the Port of Rochester and 5000 cubic yards from Irondequoit Bay clearing the harbor for safer passage of commercial and recreational vessels. Luedtke used a derrick boat 16 the tug boat Paul Luedtke and two dump scows (DFS 70 and 73) to complete the work. The Corps schedules dredging for every other year to maintain authorized depths of 23 feet at the harbor entrance and 21 feet through the channel; however the work is dependent on available funding. 
As a gateway to the Great Lakes the harbor imports $10 million worth of goods annually helping to support job creation and construction projects. Overall the Great Lakes supports 130000 jobs and $18 billion in revenue along its shores. Rochester Harbor primarily accepts shipments of cement from Canada for the Lehigh Hanson Ready Mix wholesale distribution center which is located in the harbor.  
Leudtke Engineering Company completed dredging at Rochester Harbor in New York in June.

Leudtke Engineering Company completed dredging at
Rochester Harbor in New York in June.