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  • Systematic Beneficial Use of Dredged Sediments: Matching Sediment Needs with Dredging Requirements

    PURPOSE: This technical note (TN) will outline a framework to identify beneficial and cost-effective coastal beneficial use of dredged sediment (BUDS) projects. Creation of a BUDS framework that can be applied at scale will promote sustainable BUDS practices, facilitating the delivery of flood risk management, social, and environmental benefits while still fulfilling the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) navigation mission. This proactive forecasting approach uses multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and optimization tools to balance tradeoffs between navigation dredging and BUDS goals over project-scale timespans. The proposed framework utilizes available tools to quantify ecological system evolution and current and future dredging needs to develop a systems-level approach to BUDS. Required data include current and future information on (1) existing and planned natural and created aquatic ecological systems, which may include natural and nature-based features (NNBFs), (2) dredging requirements and costs, and (3) aquatic system physical and environmental data.

  • Application of Clean Dredged Material to Facilitate Contaminated Sediment Source Control

    Abstract: Navigation channels, turning basins, and other US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)–managed navigation infrastructure often serve as repositories for contaminated sediment from off-site sources. As much as 10% of the material that USACE dredges on an annual basis is contaminated such that it requires additional and more costly management (for example, rehandling and placement in managed confined disposal facilities). Presence of contaminated sediments constrain potential management options resulting in additional costs and opportunity loss from the inability to beneficially use the material. One potential solution is applying clean dredged material to stabilize and isolate contaminated sediment sources, preventing further transport and introduction to USACE-managed infrastructure. This document summarizes a comprehensive literature review of laboratory and field case studies relevant to using clean dredged material to isolate or stabilize contaminated sediments, focusing on the physical, chemical, and biological parameters critical to establishing its feasibility and long-term effectiveness. Potentially effective engineering control measures were also reviewed where erosion and site hydrodynamics are facilitating the transport of contaminated sediments to USACE-maintained navigation infrastructure. This literature review documents and summarizes those factors considered in establishing feasibility and long-term effectiveness of the approach as well as the applicable engineering tools employed and constraints encountered.

  • 9,200 buckets later, Corps dredging halfway complete at Gold Beach

    A giant bucket – the size of a 1970s Volkswagen bus – swings through the air after it gobbles up 20 cubic yards of gravel blocking (shoaling-in) access to parts of the Port of Gold Beach, Ore. The small community on the southern coast, where the Rogue River meets the Pacific Ocean, doesn’t have much, but it has a port that sees upwards of 35,000 visitors per year for jet boat tours and averages 75-100 fishing boats a day, according to port officials.

  • $11.8 million River Contract awarded, need for repetitive dredging decreased

    The Memphis District awarded a contract to perform dike construction and maintenance at Donaldson Point, near New Madrid, Missouri (River Mile 903),  Aug. 24, 2022.  The Corps is partnering with Commercial Towing Interests, represented by the Lower Mississippi River Committee (LOMRC), to execute this $11,809,760 funded project. “This work is needed in this reach of the river due to continued navigation concerns raised by towboat pilots during recent low water years," said Project Manager Zach Cook. "This area has also required repetitive dredging over the past few years as well.” The funds provided for the work are a combination of Disaster Relief Supplemental Act of 2022 (DRSAA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) money allocated by Congress earlier this year.

  • Dredging to being at Sandusky Harbor: Notice to all boaters

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District awarded a $1,372,000 contract to Michigan-based Luedtke Engineering to conduct dredging of the federal navigation channel in Sandusky Harbor and will begin on September 18 through mid-October.

  • ERDC, Buffalo District release dredged material guidance manual for Great Lakes region

    Researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Great Lakes Districts — Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago — recently released a technical report which provides guidance for evaluating the environmental suitability of dredged material in the Great Lakes region.

  • Electronic and raster navigational charts updated to reflect spoil areas in Corpus Christi Bay

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Port of Corpus Christi and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) are working together to ensure the safety of the boating and sailing communities in the Corpus Christi Bay area during the dredging project of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement project. The electronic and raster navigational charts have been updated to reflect changes in the spoil areas in Corpus Christi Bay. Mariners should use caution when transiting near the spoil area and be advised that some water depths may be as shallow as 3 feet from mean lower low water (MLLW) within the marked spoil areas. Mariners are encouraged to update navigational charts with the latest information contained in the Local Notice to Mariners found at https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/local-notices-to-mariners?district=8+0&subdistrict=g.

  • Current State of Practice of Nearshore Nourishment by the United States Army Corps of Engineers

    Abstract: This US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) special report prepared by the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, provides an overview of the current state of practice for nearshore nourishment with dredged sediment. This special report was completed with responses and input from professionals across the dredging and placement teams from each of the USACE Coastal and Great Lakes districts, providing comprehensive overviews of the decision trees these districts utilize in the placement of their dredged sediment. This report describes the general practice of nearshore nourishment, the impediments and concerns faced by nearshore nourishment projects, and the practical methods utilized by the Coastal and Great Lakes districts for their nearshore nourishment projects. Understanding the current state of practice, along with the general and specific impediments the districts face, enables further research in and development of best practices for use across the USACE and better communication of the practice to other stakeholders.

  • Screening Dredged Material to Meet Placement Requirements

    Abstract: Certain types of dredging projects require screening of the dredged material (DM) to achieve the project’s DM placement requirement(s). Screening in the context of this report will be defined as the separation of an oversized fraction of the DM from the remaining fraction to meet project-specific placement compliance criteria (or criterion). Examples of DM placement requirements include aspects such as removing Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC) to address safety concerns and extracting over-sized material for beneficial use of DM (e.g., gravel and debris from sand to meet beach nourishment placement standards). Welp et al. (2008) provide detailed guidance for personnel involved in dredging projects with sediment containing MEC. The purpose of this document is to not only update the previous MEC-centric guidance with newly developed or identified technology but to also expand upon screening aspects to provide guidance for personnel involved in dredging projects that require removal of an oversized fraction for screening purposes other than just MEC removal.

  • Corps awards contract for Big Fishweir aquatic environment restoration project

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, awarded a contract Aug. 26, 2022, to execute an aquatic ecosystem restoration project at Big Fishweir Creek. Big Fishweir Creek is an urban tributary of the St. Johns River, running approximately four miles south of downtown Jacksonville. It enters the St. Johns River, a designated American Heritage River, just north of the Ortega River.