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  • Modular Bathymetry Systems and Methods: A Revolutionary Approach to Underwater Mapping

    The recently patented Modular Bathymetry Systems and Methods, developed by researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), offers a groundbreaking solution for underwater terrain mapping.

  • Upper Mississippi River Main Channel Sediment Placement: Purpose, Practice, Effects, and Recommendations

    Abstract: Dredged-sediment management in the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway is constrained by environmental factors and regulations that limit where sediment can be placed. Regulations regarding in-water sediment placement are not consistent among states. In-water placement should be promoted because it keeps sediment in the system and reduces costs for managing sediment dredged from the river. Studies investigating the environmental effects of in-water placement generally conclude that sand-on-sand placement has minimal effect on aquatic resources in the dynamic riverine environment. This report discusses in-water sediment management techniques, including flow- and sediment-regulating structures (i.e., dikes and wing dams) and a bed-load sediment collector by-pass system.

  • Project partners celebrate forthcoming beach renourishment completion at San Clemente press conference

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District took part in an Oct. 31 beachside press conference as it nears completion of its much-anticipated beach renourishment project in San Clemente, California.

  • Corps of Engineers, Navy collaborate in experimental dredging for U.P. harbor

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District and Engineer Research and Development Center in partnership with the U.S. Navy removed over 25,000 cubic yards of material from Little Lake Harbor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this fall.   Little Lake Harbor, designated as a harbor of refuge, requires annual maintenance dredging. The harbor had severe shoaling and emergency dredging was completed in 2023.   This year, a unique opportunity with the Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and the U.S. Navy arose.   “We were working with ERDC on redesigning the federal structures at Little Lake Harbor and ERDC was working with the Navy on experimental training,” said Soo Project Office, St. Marys River Section Chief Justin Proulx. “ERDC brought the two of us together to train the Navy on opening harbors and dredging the Detroit District’s shoaled in Little Lake Harbor.” 

  • Improving Aquatic Placement Practices for Beneficial Use of Dredged Material in the Great Lakes

    Abstract: The Great Lakes Navigation System is an economically critical waterway. To maintain safe and navigable waterways, approximately 3–5 million yd3 (2.3–3.8 million m3) of sediments are dredged annually. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and others now recognize that beneficial use of these sediments can achieve positive economic, environmental, and social outcomes. However, historically less than 25% of dredged sediments have been beneficially used in the nearshore environment. Improvements are needed in dredged material management practices in the Great Lakes to achieve the goal of using 70% of dredged sediments beneficially by 2030. Therefore, to overcome these challenges this report reviews beneficial use of dredged material projects with the goal of improving and in-creasing beneficial-use-placement practices in the Great Lakes. Identified needs to advance beneficial-use placement in the Great Lakes include the following: (1) improved modeling of sediment-placement methods; (2) better documentation regarding the cost, benefits, and drawbacks of various placement methods; (3) demonstration of some sediment-placement techniques used successfully in other coastal environments; and (4) monitoring before and after conditions, particularly for sediments that contain greater than 10% fines. Several demonstration projects should be implemented to obtain information addressing the data gaps.

  • “Essayons Isle”

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Jacksonville District helms the voyage as Skipper, navigating its Intracoastal Waterway to provide a unique, in-person perspective on locations where they, in collaboration with their stakeholder shipmates, are researching the most feasible ways to protect America’s oldest city against coastal flooding.

  • City of Wabasha, Minnesota, Corps of Engineers continue river sand management partnership with trucking operation this fall

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, and the city of Wabasha, Minnesota, are again working together to manage river sand dredged from the Mississippi River.

  • Beneficial Use of Dredged Sediment in South St. Paul, Minnesota: 100 Years of Economic, Social, and Environmental Innovation

    Purpose: This technical note provides a review of beneficial use (BU) of dredged sediment in a 5-mile river reach of the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) that demonstrates the triple-win solutions championed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering With Nature® Program. Several case studies exemplifying the BU of dredged sediment are presented along with a more in-depth review of the Pigs Eye Lake Islands ecosystem restoration project.

  • Enter Sand Plan: USACE and sponsor ports invite public comments on draft Dredged Material Management Plan

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Columbia River ports are asking for public comment on the draft plan to place millions of cubic yards of clean, Columbia River sediment in multiple Oregon and Washington locations.

  • Next-Generation Water Quality Monitoring during Dredging Operations: Knowns, Unknowns, and Path Forward

    Abstract: Water quality monitoring data are routinely collected during dredging and placement operations to address various state and federal requirements, including water quality standards, with the intention of protecting ecosystem health. However, such efforts may be limited by the lack of a standardized national strategic focus and user-friendly streamlined interfaces to interpret the data. Inconsistencies in how and what data are collected and lack of consensus on scientifically backed biological-effects thresholds make it difficult to quantify potential dredging operations impacts (or lack thereof) both within individual projects over time and across multiple projects of differing characteristics. Summarized herein is an initial effort to define a scientifically backed path forward to improve the value of current and future water quality monitoring and management decisions based on water quality data collected. The provided turbidity data were generally below applicable state thresholds for two case studies but for a third case study did periodically exceed thresholds at depth. This includes providing rationale for strategic focus on the most relevant dredging operations and projects, based on three general site-specific data categorizations: (1) sediment type, (2) dredge type, and (3) ecosystem type.