THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEER’S CONDUCTING MAINTENANCE DREDGING AT PONCE DE LEON INLET
On April 11 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District began dredging the Ponce de Leon Inlet near New Smyrna Beach in Florida and the project was completed on May 7.
The inlet shoaled in following Hurricane Matthew which hit the East Coast last October. The hopper dredge Currituck will remove 130000 cubic yards of material and place it nearshore of New Smyrna Beach using the covered Sapphire Road cross-island pipe.
The Currituck dredges Ponce de Leon Inlet in Florida.
PANAMA CITY BEACHES ARE GETTING NEW SAND
Weeks Marine of Louisiana began a $14.1 million beach nourishment project in early April in Panama City Florida. Four segments of beach County Pier City Pier Treasure Island and Pinnacle Port encompassing about 3.5 miles of shoreline will receive sand being dredged from a borrow area on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico about 3 miles offshore.
Work began at County Pier where crews will be working for about two weeks before they move up to the next location. The project will pump 840000 cubic yards of sand onto the four locations. All work must be completed by May 1 to comply with turtle nesting season rules.
The beaches last received sand in 2011 with nourishment projects occurring regularly since 1999. This year’s project is being locally-funded mostly by the Bay County Tourist Development Tax which is a five percent bed tax charged on rental rates. The Bay County Tourist Development Commission has also applied for a $4.5 million grant from the State of Florida Beach Management Funding Assistance Program for reimbursement of the state cost-share.
SOUTHWIND COMPLETES INLET DREDGING IN NC
Southwind Construction Company has completed dredging the Intracoastal Waterway and Carolina Beach Inlet Crossing in North Carolina. The project began the first week of April.
Cutter suction dredge Wilko and workboats Proud Mary and Miss Leanne David Lynn were used to remove 500000 cubic yards of sediment from the waterway and deposit it on sections of Carolina Beach. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers specified sand drop locations to ensure sand was not placed where it would be immediately washed away by currents and fill in the inlet again.
The Wilmington District awarded the contract of $6.4 million to Southwind Construction Company last August.
Carolina Beach Inlet in North Carolina.
LAKE DECATUR PROJECT RESUMES AFTER WINTER SHUTDOWN
A $91 million dredging project in Lake Decatur in Illinois resumed March 31 for the season after a winter shutdown.
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has completed nearly half of the dredging to remove 10.7 million cubic yards of sediment from the bottom of the lake and pumping it to a 523-acre storage area.
The cutter head suction dredge LW hydraulically removes sediment producing a slurry of 10 to 15 percent sediment and 85 to 90 percent water that is pumped through a 24-inch pipeline and pumping station to the city’s sedimentation basin.
The goal of the project is to increase the capacity of Lake Decatur by 30 percent providing an additional 52 days of water supply.
The work also includes the creation of two sediment traps to capture sediment before it reaches the main body of the lake. In addition GLDD is using its dredge to dig a trench under the lake to allow the city to replace an existing water main with a larger one that will increase water flow to residents. The work should be completed by the end of 2019.
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock dredge LW works on Lake Decatur in Illinois.
DREDGING BEGINS IN BEAUFORT INLET NORTH CAROLINA
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District contracted with Great Lakes Dredge and Dock (GLDD) for $7.5 million to remove shoaling in the Beaufort Inlet in North Carolina.
The work began March 24 and was completed April 30. GLDD used the Illinois a cutterhead pipeline dredge to remove 500000 cubic yards of sand and placed it on Fort Macon and Atlantic Beaches.
The dredging of the inlet was conducted as part of a three-year cycle created by the Corps to maintain navigation to the North Carolina Port of Morehead City. The channel had been restricted to vessels with a 33-foot draft or less but has been dredged to its authorized depth of 45 feet.
Sand is placed on Atlantic Beach in North Carolina. Great Lakes Dredge and Dock dredge Illinois is dredging sand in the Beaufort Inlet.
CORPS CONDUCTS MAINTENANCE DREDGING IN GRAYS HARBOR
The annual maintenance dredging of Grays Harbor in Washington began April 10 and is expected to be completed by May.
This U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District project is being supported by the Portland District hopper dredges Yaquina and Essayons which will together remove 800000 cubic yards of material.
The Grays Harbor Entrance Point Chehalis and South Reach channels will be dredged first by the Yaquina which will place dredged material at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources Point Chehalis open-water disposal sites and the Half Moon Bay nearshore beneficial use site.
The Essayons will arrive later to dredge Grays Harbor Bar Entrance and Point Chehalis reaches with dredge materials to be place at the South Beach nearshore beneficial use site and also the Point Chehalis open-water site.
GALVESTON DISTRICT AWARDS CONTRACT TO MANSON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District announced it has awarded a $8.9 million contract to Manson Construction Company of Seattle Washington for maintenance dredging in Galveston Texas.
Using the 303-foot trailing suction hopper dredge Bayport Manson will dredge the Galveston Inner and Outer Bar Entrance and Houston Ship Channel which serve as the point of entry for Galveston Texas city and Houston Ship channels. The channels support the ports of Galveston Texas City and Houston as well as other industries along the channels. Approximately 3.75 million cubic yards of dredged material are scheduled to be removed. The project should be completed by August 31.
PCBS BEING DREDGED FROM THE FLOOR OF CEDAR CREEK IN WISCONSIN
In early April J.F. Brennan began its second year on a project to remove polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated sediment from the floor of Cedar Creek and its adjoining ponds.
PCBs were banned in 1976 after studies confirmed the chemicals are harmful to the human immune system can cause developmental impairments in children and are considered probable human carcinogens. Mercury Marine has taken responsibility as the polluter and is consequently covering the costs for the clean-up. The company operated a die-casting operation and used PCB containing hydraulic fluids which at the time were promoted to prevent fires and protect employees. Some of the fluid entered area waters through storm sewer systems.
The $24.8 million project is using two hydraulic dredges the Palm Beach and Fox River to remove 55000 cubic yards of sediment from Cedar Creek and pump it to a temporary dewatering facility. The dewatering area is a three-acre park covered in a mat designed to keep sediment and water from leaching into the ground. The sediment pumped into large fabric bags will release water on the mat where it then runs to a treatment facility to remove the PCBs. By the end of the project the mat will be covered by bags four-layers high filled with contaminated sediment that will then be trucked to nearby landfills. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires removing 98 percent of the PCBs.
The project should be completed by the end of the year; however it will depend on final findings from the EPA.
BEACH RENOURISHMENT STARTS ON THE TEXAS GULF COAST
Weeks Marine received a $19.5 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District to pump 1 million cubic yards of sand onto 3.5 miles of eroded beaches on the Texas Gulf Coast.
The beach was widened up to 150 feet from the seawall and was designed to gradually erode to form a slope into the sea. The project known as the “pipeline dredge project” using Weeks dredge RS Weeks moved sand from a deposit in the Houston Ship Channel through four to seven miles of pipe to the beach.
The City of Galveston contributed $1.2 million the state Land Office added $2.7 million and the bulk of the financing came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency all combined to cover the $40 million beach restoration effort. Dredging began in January 2017 and was completed in April. The beach was last renourished in 2008.
J.F. BRENNAN RESUMES DREDGING THE FOX RIVER
A multi-year effort to clean up contaminated sediment from the Fox River in Green Bay Wisonsin started a new season on March 20.
Begun in 2009 annual work continues to remove industrial sediment that is contaminated with PCBs. This year’s project will include removal of 545000 cubic yards of sediment and is part of a dredging capping and covering project along a 13-mile stretch of the Lower Fox River. A processing facility along the river will dewater the dredged material which is then taken to a landfill. The processing facility will also treat the water that is released back into the river.
J.F. Brennan of Wisconsin is doing the dredge and capping part of the project using the 10-inch dredge Mark Anthony and two 8-inch dredges Ashtabula and Ottawa River.
Work will continue until November. Slurry being pumped through filter presses at the processing facility for contaminated sediment from the Fox River in Green Bay.
Slurry being pumped through filter presses at the processing facility for contaminated sediment from the Fox River in Green Bay.
DREDGING IN MOREHEAD CITY HARBOR CONTINUES
Despite weather and mechanical delays dredging in the Morehead City Harbor in North Carolina which began March 24 is progressing with a target date of completion by mid-May.
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock was awarded the $9.4 million contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District to remove approximately 667000 cubic yards of sand from the channel and pump it along 9500 linear feet of beach at Atlantic Beach and Fort Macon.
The company is using its 220-foot cutterhead-suction dredge Illinois to conduct the work along with water-based booster pump GLDD #4.
A bulldozer works on the beach in Morehead City moving sand dredged from Great Lakes dredge Illinois working in the nearby channel.
VILANO BEACH BENEFICIAL USE PROJECT GET NEW SAND FROM INLET DREDGING
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District has partnered with St. Johns County and the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) to provide sand to Vilano Beach through the beneficial use of dredged material from navigation projects in St. Augustine Inlet.
Vilano Beach lost sand and suffered damaged properties following Hurricane Matthew in 2016. FIND and St. Johns County requested that the Corps change its placement area from Anastasia State Park to Vilano Beach to help the area recover. The Corps was already planning to dredge the St. Augustine Inlet and the Intracoastal Waterway in St. Johns as part of its regular maintenance dredging to maintain the navigation channels.
FIND agreed to fund the modification to place the material at Vilano Beach and St. Johns agreed to complete the structural survey inventory for all the beach front homes to allow for temporary construction easements. With these actions the Corps changed plans to add sand to Vilano Beach.
Original estimates from the Corps were that 180000 cubic yards would be dredged from the Intracoastal Waterway in addition to the 70000 cubic yards from the inlet. However Hurricane Matthew caused natural removal of some of the shoaled sands so while 10000 feet of Vilano beachfront was to be renourished it is now estimated there will only be enough sand to cover 3000 feet.
Corps Project Manager Jason Harrah emphasized that this project is a “dredging with beneficial use project” and not a “beach renourishment.”
“Under this scenario we dredge until the federal channel is cleared of shoal material. The volume of sand retrieved determines how far we can place along the beach. We’re not authorized to go outside the channel to increase the length of beach placement. In beach renourishment projects the opposite holds true – we determine the length of beach renourishment needed and then dredge enough sand to meet that need” Harrah said.
Construction began April 1 and is scheduled to end before the start of hurricane season June 1.
Pipes wait to be set in Vilano Beach before sand arrives from the St. Augustine Inlet.
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