LMR Dredging Update 62819.pdf

The Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley New Orleans (MVN) continues responding to active shoaling in Southwest Pass (SWP) deposited by long-term high river stages (historic flood event and precipitation levels).  There are only three hopper dredges presently working in the area of SWP (2 industry hoppers and 1 government hopper) and three dustpan dredges working on the Crossings.  The low bidder to the advertisement of Southwest Pass Cutterhead Dredge Rental Contract #2-2019 was Weeks Marine, Weeks will respond to this contract with the cutterhead dredge CAPTAIN FRANK.

 

TRANSIT RESTRICTIONS AT SOUTHWEST PASS (SWP): 

1. The Bar Pilots maximum draft recommendation was reduced to 42 feet (freshwater) at 1000 hours on June 26, 2019.  
2. The Crescent River Port Pilots maximum draft recommendation of 44 feet (freshwater) remains as established on Wednesday, April 17, 2019.  
3. The Federal Pilots also reduced their maximum draft recommendation to 42 feet (freshwater) on June 26, 2019.today. 

*The maximum draft recommendation or controlling draft in SWP is 42 feet freshwater, the previous recommendation was 44 feet as first implemented on April 17, 2019.

 

INDUSTRY HOPPER DREDGE(S) IN SOUTHWEST PASS (SWP):

NEWPORT:  The hopper dredge NEWPORT (Manson Construction) is dredging at the Venice Jump (Mile 10.5 Above Head of Passes [AHP] to Mile 10 AHP).  The NEWPORT is now dredging under Southwest Pass Hopper Dredge Rental Contract #8-2019.  The NEWPORT began dredging in SWP on November 28, 2018.

STUYVESANT:  The industry hopper dredge STUYVESANT (Dutra Group) is dredging on assignment from Mile 5.0 AHP to Mile 2.5 AHP. The STUYVESANT began dredging under Southwest Pass Hopper Dredge Rental Contract #10-2019 on June 14, 2019.

GOVERNMENT HOPPER DREDGE(S) IN SOUTHWEST PASS (SWP):

 WHEELER: MVN’s hopper dredge WHEELER continues dredging from Mile 1.0 AHP to Mile 1.5 Below Head of Passes under Red Flag Emergency Callout #5-2019.  The Red Flag was approved for 45-days and dredging commenced June 3, 2019.

 

CUTTERHEAD DREDGE(S) IN SOUTHWEST PASS (SWP):

 Weeks Marine intends to satisfy Southwest Pass Cutterhead Dredge Rental Contract #2-2019 with the cutterhead dredge CAPTAIN FRANK and is expected to start dredging in Southwest Pass in approximately two weeks (on or about July 12^th).

 

CUTTERHEAD DREDGE(S) IN THE HOPPER DREDGE DISPOSAL AREA (HDDA):

R.S. WEEKS: The industry cutterhead dredge R.S. WEEKS (Weeks Marine) continues dredging in the Hopper Dredge Disposal Area and is beneficially using all material in the Pass A’Loutre Wildlife Management Area (PALWMA).  The cutterhead dredged the Ship Channel (SWP) from December 15, 2018 to April 24, 2019 and began dredging in the HDDA on April 26, 2019.  Approximately 4.5 million cubic yards of material have now been beneficially placed in the PALWMA from the HDDA and has restored approximately 400 acres of sensitive wildlife habitat.

DUSTPAN DREDGE(S) ON THE CROSSINGS ABOVE NEW ORLEANS:

HURLEY: The Corps dustpan dredge HURLEY continues dredging operations on the central 250 feet of channel at Red Eye Crossing (Mile 224 AHP).  The government dustpan dredge commenced dredging on the Crossings on May 4, 2019

WALLCE McGEORGE: The industry dustpan dredge WALLCE McGEORGE continues    dredging the central 250 feet of channel at Medora Crossing (Mile 212 AHP).  The industry hopper dredge commenced dredging on the Crossings on May 9, 2019.

JADWIN: The Corps dustpan dredge JADWIN commenced dredging the central 250 feet of channel at Belmont Crossing (Mile 154 AHP) this morning, Friday, June 28, 2019.

 

There are 168 open bays at the Bonnet Carré Spillway, the Corps intends to start closing gates when the Carrollton Gauge reaches 15.5 feet.  According to the National Weather Service’s Extended Streamflow Prediction this would occur on approximately July 21^st.     

The Carrollton Gauge (New Orleans) reading at 0800 hours was 15.99 feet, with a 24-hour change of – 0.03 feet.

The Baton Rouge Gauge reading at 0800 hours was 41.92 feet, with a 24-hour change of – 0.16 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.