The Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley New Orleans (MVN) continues to address the shoaling on the Crossings Above New Orleans with two dustpan dredges.  The dustpan dredges are finalizing their assignments for Fiscal Year 2018, the MVN is working to restore full channel dimensions on the Crossings before the dustpans depart. Federally authorized channel dimensions on the Crossings Above New Orleans are 45 feet by 500 feet.

DUSTPAN DREDGES ON THE CROSSINGS ABOVE NEW ORLEANS:

JADWIN:  The Corps’ dustpan dredge JADWIN has completed dredging atAlhambra Crossing (Mile 192 AHP).  The White Castle Anchorage is once again available for normal vessel usage, the anchorage was reopened at 1200 hours today (Thursday, October 25, 2018). The JADWIN has completed FY 2018 dredging operations on the Crossings and is departing the Ship Channel.  The JADWIN began dredging on the Crossings on Thursday, May 10, 2018.

CUTTERHEAD DREDGE AT THE HOPPER DREDGE DISPOSAL AREA (HDDA): 

R.S. WEEKS:  The industry cutterhead dredge (Weeks Marine) is expected to commence  dredging 12 million cubic yards of material from the HDDA by Monday, October 29, 2018. Weeks will begin this project by disposing of the removed dredged material in the Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Management Area on the eastern side of the Ship Channel.  Due to the unseasonably high river stages, Weeks decided not to begin the project by disposing of material in the West Bay Receiving Area as originally planned (western channel side).  The disposal in West Bay would require channel closures to install and later remove a submerged dredge pipeline

The Big River Coalition will remain engage throughout the process and issue updates when pertinent details are available.  If Weeks does decide to install a submerged dredge pipeline across the Ship Channel as part of this contract, the Coalition will attempt to distribute information on the scheduled channel closure(s) two-weeks in advance.

The Carrollton Gauge reading at 1000 hours today was 11.40 feet, with a 24-hour change of + 0.48 feet.   

Please note that stages of 12 feet or greater on the Carrollton Gauge could be achieved as remnants of Hurricane Wilma drop precipitation over the Lower Mississippi River Basin.

The Baton Rouge Gauge reading at 1100 hours today was 29.95 feet, with a 24-hour change of + 0.49 feet. 

The graph below is reproduced from NOAA’s National Weather Service website and represents an experimental product to account for the complexity of accurately predicting long-range precipitation.  This forecast projects stage levels based on expected precipitation for 2 days (top) and 16 days (bottom) and was developed within the North American Ensemble Forecast System (NAEFS) computer model and highlights Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPF).  Along with the forecasts, a shaded area is also provided to indicate uncertainty for the forecast each day in the future.   These plots are experimental and not an official forecast product.