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Tag: dredging
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  • District awards $15.4 Mil contract to dredge Freeport Lower Stauffer Reach channel

    GALVESTON, Texas – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District awarded a contract in the amount of $15,494,310 to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, LLC for the first phase of the Freeport Harbor Channel Improvement Project.
  • Army Corps issues advisory for New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway dredging

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District has issued an advisory regarding ongoing dredging along the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway.
  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: Insights: An Update of the USACE Data Strategy Initiative; November 2019 Edition

    Abstract: The Data25 strategy was advanced in FY19 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Chief Information Officer (USACE CIO) by funding pilots to show the power of data analytics on real USACE operations. This report details pilots that were conducted in three of USACEs Business Lines; Dredging, Hydropower, and Military Construction. The purposes for each of these pilots are listed below. 1. Enterprise value: Demonstrates the power of data analytics and its ability to generate business value by improving decision-making across the organization. 2. Technology value: Helps the CIO understand how cloud technology could support the overall data strategy. 3. Business value: Provides examples of data analytics in action. This view helps the Business Lines, Divisions, and Districts understand what it takes to supplement decision-making with insights generated from data. The main purpose of the pilots was to provide a glimpse of what could be gained from data analytics. From the initial business questions, the pilot Business Lines are seeking to use data to improve decisions through the automation of business processes, more rapid decision cycles, and the layering of previously siloed data on their own to reveal new insights.
  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: New York/New Jersey Harbor Sedimentation Study: Numerical Modeling of Hydrodynamics and Sediment Transport

    Abstract: The New York/New Jersey Harbor (NYNJH) is a vital economic resource for both the local economy and the entire US economy due to the vast quantity of imports and exports handled by the numerous ports in this waterway. As with most ports, there is a significant, recurring expense associated with dredging the navigation channels to the authorized depths. In an effort to determine the impact of channel enlargements (“the project”) on dredging volumes, a numerical model study was performed. The advantage of a numerical model study is the ability to isolate individual system modifications and associated impacts in terms of dredging volumes. Five years (1985, 1995, 1996, 2011, and 2012) were simulated for both the with- and without-project conditions to determine the impact of the channel deepening on the dredging requirements for a wide range of meteorological conditions including storm events. The numerical model results were analyzed to provide insight into which locations will experience increased/decreased deposition and quantify the amount of increase/decrease for a given channel reach. The model results indicate a relatively minor increase in the total dredge volumes for the NYNJH with the increase being insignificant in comparison to the natural variability in dredge volumes across years.
  • A look back: Williams' 30+ years of service

    "If you walk around this vessel, chances are you will find him working somewhere around here, even when he is off the watch," Dredge Hurley Assistant Master Tim Tucker said. "We sometimes have to make him stop to go to his room to relax after a long day. If some of the kids coming out of high school these days would show up with half of the work ethic that he has, we would really get a lot more done." Tucker is describing Curtis Williams, who is also known by many on the dredge as "Lil Wolf". Williams is the Dredge Hurley's ship keeper and has been with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a little more than 30 years.
  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: Sediment Sorting by Hopper Dredging and Pump-Out Operations: Sampling Methods and Analysis

    Abstract: Hopper dredging operations for beach and nearshore placement typically include periods of overflow, which produces some degree of separation between the size fractions of the dredged sediment. The degree of separation and the controlling factors are presently poorly known. This report focuses on laboratory experiments aimed at determining (1) suitable sampling methods on a dredge, (2) composite sampling techniques to reduce analysis cost, (3) associated sampling intervals to achieve suitable sediment representation of a hopper load, and (4) a hydraulic means of sample splitting. Results showed that no statistical difference exists among the three methods used to sample the hopper weir overflow. The method used to sample deposited hopper sediment identified a bias in the percent fines that resulted from flow sheltering. Further, it was found that composited samples were able to quantify the concentration and percent fines accurately, although an analytical data experiment showed that the accuracy of a composited sample is dependent on the sampling intervals. The accuracy of the fines and concentration from a hydraulic sample splitter was found to be dependent on median grain size, with fine sediment being evenly distributed and coarser sediment increasing the error in concentration and grain size distribution.
  • Statement on barges/676 Bridge

    On the afternoon of August 4th, high flows along the Schuylkill River dislodged the Crane Barge LEHIGH and two associated hopper barges from their moorings. The barges, which were secured between the Spring Garden Bridge and the Vine Street Expressway/676 Bridge, were pushed up against the Vine Street Expressway/676 Bridge. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) closed the bridge to traffic in both directions. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractor Atlantic Subsea, Inc. assessed the situation and worked on a plan to resolve the matter in coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard and the City of Philadelphia. When water levels subsided on Aug. 6, multiple tugboats were used to move the barges upriver just south of the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge. The operation was successfully completed around noon on Aug. 6. PennDOT then reopened the bridge to vehicle traffic in the afternoon. The barges were being used as part of a project to dredge portions of the Schuylkill River above the Fairmount Dam.
  • Jacksonville District awards contract to repair Ponce de Leon North Jetty

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Aug. 4, 2020) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District awarded a $7,015,443 contract July 28, 2020, to Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. of Omaha, Neb., for the Ponce De Leon Inlet North Jetty Rehabilitation and Aid to Navigation Replacement Project at Ponce de Leon Inlet in Volusia County, Fla.
  • Army Corps awards contract for Absecon Island beach nourishment

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District awarded a contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Oak Brook, Illinois for $23.8 million to complete periodic nourishment of the Absecon Island Coastal Storm Risk Management project in Atlantic County, N.J. The contract calls for placing approximately two million cubic yards of sand onto the beach in Atlantic City, Ventnor City, Margate City, and the borough of Longport.   
  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: Erosion Thresholds and Rates for Sand-Mud Mixtures

    Abstract: Differences in erosion behavior of non-cohesive and cohesive sediments are widely recognized. In many natural environments, sand and mud are not completely separated and occur as mixtures. Significantly less research has been conducted on the erosion behavior of sand-mud mixtures compared to the separate treatment of sand and mud erosion. Sedflume erosion experiments were conducted on sand-mud mixtures with varying mud content to define the relationships between mud content, critical stress for erosion (τc), and erosion rate. Sand-mud mixtures were prepared with three mud sources: (1) non-swelling clay (kaolinite), (2) swelling clay (kaolinite/bentonite), and (3) a swelling, natural mud from the Mississippi River. Test results showed that critical shear stresses of the mixed sediments departed from that of pure sand with mud fractions on the order of 2% to 10%. Peak τc was observed between 30% to 40% mud content, with swelling muds achieving a ten-fold increase in τc while a five-fold increase in τc was measured for kaolinite. Additionally, this study demonstrated that the introduction of small amounts (≤5%) of mud to sand reduced erosion rates by a factor of 10 to 100. This observed abatement of erosion rate has implications for the use of dredged materials in civil and environmental engineering projects.