DREDGING ROUNDUP NORTH AMERICA – September/October 2014

PLAQUEMINES PARISH LOUISIANA

The Corps of Engineers New Orleans District announced August 6 that it had signed a partnership agreement with Plaquemines Parish to use a material dredge for marsh creation projects as part of the Louisiana Coastal Area Beneficial Use of Dredged Material program which is positioning projects for construction in 2015.

The first projects will use dredged material from the lower Mississippi River to create approximately 300 to 600 acres of marsh in the Bird’s Foot Delta specifically areas along Grand Pass and West Bay.

The agreement signed by Parish President Billy Nungesser and the Corps’ Col. Rick Hansen formalizes the role of the parish as a local sponsor of a Corps plan to use sediment from Southwest Pass the main navigation channel of the Mississippi River.

The project would be part of a $100 million 10-year program authorized by Congress in WRDA 2007.

New York District Project Manager David Gentile points out an item to Project Analyst Catharine Russamano as a sand and water mixture pumps onto the beach in Port Monmouth New Jersey on July 1 2014. The work to restore dunes and beach are part of the first phase of a larger overall project designed to reduce coastal storm risks to the community. (Photo credit: James D’Ambrosio USACE Public Affairs)

PORT MONMOUTH NEW JERSEY

In June Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. began phase one of a $17.7 million beach restoration project to repair Hurricane Sandy damage. The beach renourishment operations are complete and the Corps is moving forward with other aspects of the project.

Along the shores of Raritan and Sandy Hook Bay the $110 million hurricane and storm damage risk reduction project placed 400000 cubic yards of sand along the shoreline creating a 95-foot-wide beach berm to absorb wave energy. It will be renourished in 10-year intervals. Phase one of the project also includes a 25-footwide 15-foot-high dune spanning nearly 3300 feet and a 300-foot terminal groin structure to hold sand in place and reduce erosion.

Phase two includes wetland mitigation road-raising and the construction of pump stations flood walls and levees. The five-year $92.5 million phase two project will be awarded later this year.

JEFFERSON COUNTY TEXAS

The Corps of Engineers Galveston District awarded Manson Construction Co. a contract for maintenance dredging of the Sabine-Neches Waterway Port Arthur Canal Junction and Taylors Bayou in Jefferson County Texas.

Manson will remove approximately 1.5 million cubic yards of material beginning in August with an estimated completion date of April 2015.

USACE Galveston District project manager Paula Rankin said all the dredged material will be relocated to Placement Area 8 located on Pleasure Island.

“The Sabine-Neches Waterway is an economically and strategically significant federal deep-draft navigation channel that connects Texas and Louisiana” said Wise. “It is projected to become America’s largest exporter of liquified natural gas with tens of billions of dollars invested in processing facilities underway on both the Louisiana and Texas sides of the channel which is why it is critical that we keep these channels open for commercial waterborne traffic.”

VICTORIA TEXAS

Orion Marine Group won a contract in July from the Galveston Engineer District for $2664500 for maintenance dredging of the channel to Victoria in Calhoun County Texas.

Orion will remove approximately 485000 cubic yards of dredged material from the lower reach of the channel to Victoria barge canal beginning in August 2014 with an estimated completion date of October 2014. Chief of Navigation for the USACE Galveston District Christopher Frabotta said the dredged material will be placed in an upland confined placement area. 

Frabotta said the Port of Victoria saw a sharp increase in tonnage in 2012 and 2013 from crude oil exports to regional and national refinderies at Cropus Christi Houston Port Arthur and Lousiana.

ONONDAGA LAKE NEW YORK

The U.S. Environmetnal Protection Agency has proposed a plan to clean up contaminated sediment at the Lower Ley Creek of the Onondaga Lake Superfund Site located in the town of Salina Onondaga County New York. Discharges from nearby industries and a landfill have contaminated the soil and sediment with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances. The EPA proposal calls for a combination of excavation capping and disposal of contaminated soil and sediment.

The Onondaga Lake Superfund Site which includes the lake itself six tributaries and various upland sources of contamination was placed on the EPA’s Superfund list in 1994. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the EPA have organized the cleanup work for the Onondaga Lake Superfund Site into 11 areas. These areas are in various stages of cleanup. (For more on Lake Onondaga dredging see the article in the April/May 2014 issue pg. 34)

The Lower Ley Creek area is located in an industrialized area in the Town of Salina just north of Syracuse New York. Since the late 19th century several industries have been operating near Ley Creek and its branches. As part of these operations industrial wastes containing PCB oils and other hazardous substances were discharged into the creek. In the 1970s Ley Creek was dredged and redirected through the town of Salina landfill by Onondaga County in an effort to control flooding. Dredged material was spread along the shoreline of the Creek and also disposed of at the town of Salina landfill. 

Under the EPA’s proposed plan contaminated sediment and soil from the northern and southern banks of the creek will be excavated. Following the excavation upland soil areas will then be restored with clean soil.

One option being considered for the local disposal of the excavated soil and sediment is the town of Salina landfill within a section of the landfill that has a system in place to contain contaminated liquids from the landfill called leachate. Another local disposal option that is being considered is the Cooper Crouse-Hinds North Landfill also located in the town of Salina. This landfill will be capped and closed under the State Superfund program in the near future but a new cell with a liner could be constructed at the landfill which would also include a leachate collection system. The specific local disposal location would be determined during the design phase of the cleanup which will begin after the EPA selects the final cleanup plan for the site. Should local disposal be determined not to be viable all of the material would be sent for proper disposal out of the area.

WILLACY CAMERON MATAGORDA CALHOUN COUNTIES TEXAS

Orion Marine Construction Inc. won two contracts from the Corps of Engineers Galveston District for $577400 and $5523585 to dredge the Matagorda Ship Channel in Matagorda and Calhoun counties and the channel to Harlingen and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) in Willacy and Cameron counties Texas.

Unpredictable shoaling in the Matagorda Ship Channel requires annual maintenance dredging according to Operations Manager George Dabney USACE Galveston District.

The dredged material will go to an open-water unconfirmed placement area and a portion will be used to enhance bird habitat. The beneficial material use requires a joint cooperative between the Corps and the Audobon Society and state and federal resource agencies. The project will reuse 126000 cubic yards of dredged material on Sundown-Island a waterbird sanctuary.

Orion Marine will remove approximately 1.2 million cubic yards from Matagorda Peninsula to Point Comfort beginning in September with an estimated completion date of December 2014.

In Willacy and Cameron counties “The Port of Harlingen is an important link in the comprehensive transportation network of the Rio Grande Valley and plays a critical role in moving bulk cargo and petroleum products via the Channel to Harlingen and the GIWW between the valley and points as far north as New York and south to Mexico” said Operations Manager Seth Jones USACE Galveston District.

The GIWW is the third busiest inland waterway. The 423-mile Texas portion of the waterway supports $28 billion worth of cargo annually.

Orion Marine will remove approximately 939000 cubic yards beginning in September through December 2014. Dredged material from the Channel to Harlingen will be deposited in Channel to Harlingen placement areas (PA) 2 8 15 and 23 with material from the GIWW placed in PA 221A.

RARITAN RIVER FEDERAL NAVIGATION CHANNEL NEW YORK

The Corps of Engineers New York District awarded a $3.8 million contract to Norfolk Dredging of Chesapeake Virginia for maintenance dredging on the Raritan River Federal Navigation Channel. The work involves removing approximately 600000 cubic yards of material from the channel.

The current dredging contract is primarily focused on shoaling from the area downstream of the Edison Bridge. Material dredged from the channel will be placed at the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS) and work is slated to be completed this winter.

The channel was impacted by Hurricane Sandy and the dredging contract is being funded through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 commonly referred to as the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill. The dredging will reverse Sandy’s impact to the channel by restoring it to its authorized dimensions