July/August 2017 – DR/NA
FIRST DREDGING EVER FOR BIG CARLOS PASS
For the first time ever Big Carlos Pass in Florida is being dredged. The West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND) has contracted with two companies to conduct advanced maintenance dredging to alter the constantly changing and shallow S-shaped channel into a straight 10-foot deep and safe channel between Estero Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
New Pass will also be dredged as part of the $2.3 million project which includes mechanical and hydraulic dredging. Marine Contracting Group of Florida won a $289000 contract for the mechanical work on New Pass and Coastal Dredging of Louisiana received the remainder of the contract for hydraulic work on New Pass and Big Carlos Pass. Coastal Dredging is using 16-inch hydraulic dredge Cletus along with dredge tenders Captain Hunter and Chopper.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection found that about five percent of the 130000 cubic yards of dredged material from New Pass cannot be used for beach nourishment and will need to be hauled away. The remaining material will be placed on Lovers Key and Fort Myers beaches. Dredging will remove 64000 cubic yards of debris from Big Carlos.
The original channel followed the natural flow of the river current and changed regularly necessitating that the WCIND constantly update the aids to navigation and causing a safety hazard in shallow areas. The hope is that the new channel will be stable enough to not require regular dredging. The advanced maintenance dredging allows for more material to be removed to account for settling which also means more time can lapse between dredging.
The project was funded through WCIND’s multi-county special taxing district ad valorem revenue and included a 10-year maintenance dredging agreement whereby no new permits will be required for any work needed within a 10-year window.
The project should be completed the end of August.
Coastal Dredging is using hydraulic dredge Cletus to dredge Big Carlos pass in Florida..jpg|!|)
BEACH NOURISHMENT CONTINUES ON OUTER BANKS NORTH CAROLINA
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock is nearing completion of the Duck section of the $38.5 million beach nourishment project in the Outer Banks of North Carolina that also includes Southern Shores Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills.
The work began in early May in Duck with the company’s dredge Liberty Island followed later in the month by the Padre Island and the Dodge. The three dredges were to work throughout the project however Liberty Island developed mechanical issues and was taken out of service in early June returning about a week later.
All three vessels are trailing suction hopper dredges. The Liberty Island is the largest dredge at 315 feet long with a 25-foot draft and a hopper capacity of 6540 cubic yards while the Dodge Island and Padre Island are both 281 feet in length with drafts of 9.5 feet and hopper capacities of 3600 cubic yards.
The Liberty Island is working on the northern part of the project while the Padre Island and the Dodge are continuing to work on the southern end taking turns pumping sand onto the beach and refilling at Borrow Area C. The sand is being transported from an offshore terminal through a subline as slurry.
From Duck the dredges will move to Southern Shores then Kitty Hawk and finally Kill Devil Hills with work expected to be completed by mid-September. The project will pump approximately 4 million cubic yards of sand across 8.3 miles of shoreline.
The work is being paid for from a combination of individual town funds the Dare County Beach Nourishment Fund General appropriations and Municipal Service Districts.
OCEANSIDE HARBOR UNDERGOING ANNUAL DREDGING
Oceanside California beaches have been widened with sand captured from the annual dredging of the Oceanside harbor.
Dredging the mouth of the harbor to keep it open for safe navigation is an annual project paid for by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District and the Navy. Manson Construction received this year’s contract of $3.7 million to dredge 280000 cubic yards of material from the channel to bring it to its authorized depth of 20 feet with an additional 7 feet of advanced maintenance. The company is using its 220-foot cutter suction dredge H.R. Morris to complete the work.
The project was completed in early June after a Memorial Day deadline was extended by city to take advantage of extra sand. Oceanside budgeted $600000 and Camp Pendleton also set aside funds to dredge at least another 70000 cubic yards for further nourishment. The California Coastal Commission and the Regional Water Quality Control Board agreed to extend the project which increased the removed material amount up to 420000 cubic yards.
Manson Construction is widened beaches at Oceanside California using cutter suction dredge H.R. Morris. .jpg|!|)
MICHIGAN HARBORS DREDGED BY KING COMPANY
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District has awarded a $374000 contract to King Company of Holland Michigan to dredge the St. Joseph and Holland Harbors.
Approximately 34000 cubic yards of material will be removed from Holland Harbor and 30000 cubic yards from St. Joseph Outer Harbor by the contractor’s 18-inch diameter hydraulic dredge Buxton. The dredged material will be placed south of the breakwaters between the high-water mark and the most landward four-foot contour. Work was scheduled to be completed by early July but weather delays have pushed the project back about three week.
This project is part of the Corps’ Detroit District Multiple Award Task Order Contract which established ten dredge companies that can work in the Great Lakes. The purpose is the expedite and provide more flexibility in the bid solicitation and award process. The area serves as a harbor of refuge and is home to the Coast Guard Station St. Joseph as well as an active receiving port on the Great Lakes.
While the Corps is managing the maintenance of the navigation channels last year the responsibility to manage dredging was given to St. Joseph and Benton harbor through a new harbor authority.
At a press conference to announce the dredging project Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI) said “Having the Corps maintain this as a commercial port not only helps us as consumers but it also helps the recreation industry” Upton said. “We’re the second largest state in terms of boating registrations and this is a mighty important place.”
CORPS CONDUCTS SEMI-ANNUAL DREDGING AT OCEAN CITY INLET
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District began its semi-annual dredging of the Ocean City Inlet in Maryland on April 29.
The jetties around the Ocean City Inlet impede the natural sediment transport so that the sand builds up in the channel and needs to be removed generally twice a year. The total project will remove approximately 40000 cubic yards of material with between 5000 and 10000 cubic yards coming from the navigation channel. The dredged material is placed just offshore of Assateague Island south of the inlet.
The Corps District Wilmington is supplying its 156-foot split hopper dredge Murden for the project. The dredge has a beam of 35 feet and an 11- foot depth and has drag heads both port and starboard that can move up to 12 cubic yards of material per minute.
The Corps has been working with local state and federal officials to develop a longer-term solution to keeping the navigation channel open by dredging the Inlet to a depth of 14 to 16 feet. This would help eliminate the constant silting in of the channel which makes it impassable for even small commercial and recreational vessels. As a first part of finding a solution the Corps is undertaking a regional sediment management study under its Continuing Authorities Program Section 204 program. Final recommendations are expected in 2018.
EXPANSION AT PORTAGE COVE HARBOR IN ALASKA
The dredging portion of a harbor expansion project at Portage Cove Harbor in Haines Borough Alaska that began in March is complete.
Pacific Pile & Marine (PP&M) received the $13.2 million contract from the Haines Borough. The project includes dredging and expanding the harbor installation of a steel pile supported wave barrier moorage pile replacement and upland parking area improvement. Dredging removed about 100000 cubic yards of sediment with about 21000 cubic yards used for the construction of a parking lot and 3200 cubic yards of armor rock placed on dredged slopes.
PP&M used Hitachi excavators equipped with RTK-GPS and Hypack Dredgepack software a 142-foot by 58-foot flat deck barge a bottom dump barge with 1050 capacity an 80-foot by 40-foot Flexi-Float modular barge with four containers on deck to hold dredged material and a hydrographic survey boat with a Reson 7125 mulitbeam transducer.
The borough anticipates the complete expansion and improvements to be completed by the end of May 2018.
The Haines Small Boat Harbor was constructed by Alaska Public Works Agency in and expanded to its current configuration by the Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District in 1976.
DISMAL SWAMP CANAL TO REOPEN AFTER HURRICANE MATTHEW CLOSURE
Officials at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Norfolk District began dredging the Dismal Swamp Canal on June 16 to clear debris and shoaling caused by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. The Canal which is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and runs between Virginia and North Carolina has been closed since that time.
Using the Corps’ dredge Murden the intent is to have the canal dredged to its full 6-foot depth. The canal had shoaled to a foot of depth in some areas. The work will cover 22 miles of the canal along with additional dredging at Turners Cut and Feeder Ditch which connects to Lake Drummond. The Corps Wilmington District is assisting with removing a small shoal in Deep Creek Channel.
Work is expected to be completed by fall at which time the Corps will decide if the canal should be opened at a restricted depth until the 6-foot depth can be met.
Damage from Hurricane Matthew extended into Lake Drummond where crews are repairing damaged buildings floating docks roadway washout and a boat tram.
ANNUAL DREDGING OF DILLINGHAM HARBOR RUNNING AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District contracted with Alaska Marine Excavation (AME) to dredge Dillingham harbor.
Every spring an average of 90000 cubic yards of mud is removed from the harbor to enable hundreds of commercial fishing vessels to access the port in Dillingham. This year crews removed 126000 cubic yards of mud. Work began May 19 and was completed by June 8 a much shorter schedule than last year.
This year AME installed a new motor and a new larger pump and pipe on their cutter head suction dredge to increase efficiency and speed. The new equipment plus a colder winter that left less mud has cut the usual month-long project down to just about two weeks.
The dredged mud is pumped under a road to a disposal area located 250 yards offshore. Each year tidal currents of the Nushagak River carry the mud away and then bring it back into the harbor. Plans are to eventually use the mud to create new land at the Bristol Bay Native Corporation giving it a beneficial use instead of simply recycling it in and out of the harbor. Mud had previously been placed on land and dried for use in a boat yard but that process proved too expensive to continue.
GREEN HARBOR WORK COMPLETED
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District completed the dredging project in Green Harbor in Massachusetts on May 31.
Green Harbor is dredged almost annually because old jetties that sit too low in the water and a 100-foot breach in one jetty allow sediment to settle in the harbor. Because dredging was not done last year the project proved difficult as the entrance channel that is usually 100 feet wide had shrunk to 30 feet and depth had changed to four feet instead of eight. While the Corps and those using the harbor would like to replace the jetties such work would require congressional approval and significant funding which is not available.
The Corps 160-foot hydraulic vessel Currituck and two excavators conducted the work this year. Approximately 30000 cubic yards of sediment was removed and placed offshore where it will nourish nearby beaches through natural wave action.
Upon completion of this year’s dredging the Marshfield Planning Board met and decided to apply for a $36000 coastal resiliency grant to study how future materials dredged from the harbor can be beneficially used. The study would look at the current site conditions dredging history and sediment characteristics as well as economic feasibility and potential placement sites.
CORPS CLEARS STAGE HARBOR CHANNEL
Dredging of the Stage Harbor channel in Chatham Massachusetts was completed in early July allowing safe passage through the harbor which houses more than 500 commercial and recreational moorings.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District is using the 146-foot hopper dredge Currituck to remove 50000 cubic yards of material from the channel. The dredge can remove 315 cubic yards per load with each load being deposited in an area just off Hardings Beach. The sand migrates from the dump site to form protective berms and sandbars.
The Corps dredges the 2.1 mile long channel every three to four years to keep it clear for commercial fishermen however all boaters benefit. The project will widen the channel to 150 feet and increase the depth to ten feet.
GLDD CONDUCTS STORM DAMAGE REDUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Charleston District has awarded a $26.3 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock for dredging off North Myrtle Beach South Carolina.
The storm damage reduction work was originally authorized under Section 101 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1990 which requires construction of a separate protective beach in three reaches. This project is covering Reach 1 and 3 but Reach 2 Myrtle Beach has been postponed.
A hopper dredge will be dredging beach fill from the Little River borrow area located two miles offshore and placing the approximately 1.2 million cubic yards of sand on North Myrtle Beach Garden City and Surfside beaches.
Part of the money for the project comes from the federal emergency beach rehabilitation from Hurricane Matthew fund.
The project is scheduled to begin in July and be completed within six months.
