Lower Mississippi River (LMR) Dredging Update 10419
The Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley New Orleans (MVN) continues dredging operations in response to record shoaling deposited by historic long-term high river stages (record flood event created by record precipitation levels). The MVN continues to concentrate efforts on the Crossings Above New Orleans as the channel in Southwest Pass has mostly been restored. Two dustpan dredges and one hopper dredge are working on the Crossings and one cutterhead dredge continues working on the channel in Southwest Pass.
DUSTPAN DREDGE(S) ON THE CROSSINGS ABOVE NEW ORLEANS:
WALLCE McGEORGE: The industry dustpan dredge WALLCE McGEORGE continues dredging the central 350 feet of channel (authorized width is 500 feet) at Baton Rouge Front (Mile 231 Above Head of Passes [AHP]). The industry dustpan dredge commenced dredging on the Crossings on May 9, 2019.
JADWIN: The Corps dustpan dredge continues dredging full channel dimensions at Belmont Crossing (Mile 154 AHP). The government dustpan dredge returned to dredging on the Crossings on September 13, 2019 after completing a temporary assignment on the shallow-draft channel.
HURLEY: The Corps dustpan dredge HURLEY was released on Thursday, October 3rd from Red Eye Crossing to work on shallow-draft assignment at Victoria Bend (Mile 594 AHP). The government dustpan dredge commenced dredging on the Crossings on May 4, 2019 and is expected to return to the Crossings by October 20th.
HOPPER DREDGE(S) ON THE CROSSINGS ABOVE NEW ORLEANS:
NEWPORT: The industry hopper dredge NEWPORT (Manson Construction) continues working the central 250 feet of channel at two locations: Missouri Bend (Mile 222 AHP) during daylight hours and alternating to Sardine Point (Mile 219 AHP) from dusk to dawn. The NEWPORT is dredging under Southwest Pass Hopper Dredge Rental Contract #8-2019 and is expected to remain on the Ship Channel until mid-November (2019).
CUTTERHEAD DREDGE(S) IN SOUTHWEST PASS (SWP):
C.R. McCASKILL: Weeks Marine’s cutterhead dredge C.R. McCASKILL is dredging at Mile 7.35 Below Head of Passes (BHP) on assignment from Mile 6.8 BHP to Mile 8.6 BHP on the western side of the channel. The dredge’s next assignment is expected to be from Cubits Gap (Mile 3.5 AHP) to the Head of Passes (Mile 0) also on the western side of the channel. The cutterhead began dredging on July 24, 2019 under Southwest Pass Cutterhead Dredge Rental Contract #2-2019.
CUTTERHEAD DREDGE(S) IN THE HOPPER DREDGE DISPOSAL AREA (HDDA):
R.S. WEEKS: The industry cutterhead dredge R.S. WEEKS (Weeks Marine) continues dredging at the HDDA, all material is being beneficially used in the Pass A’Loutre Wildlife Management Area (PALWMA). The MVN was recently able to extend this contract, the original amount of funding allowed Weeks Marine to be contracted for the removal of 12 million cubic yards (mcy) of material from the HDDA. A recent increase in funding was utilized to extend this contract and increase the amount of material to be removed by approximately 3.0 mcy, increasing the contract to remove a total of 15.3 mcy of material. The cutterhead dredges have now beneficially utilized approximately 9 mcy of material from the HDDA and restored approximately 500 acres in the PALWMA.
The Carrollton Gauge (New Orleans) reading at 0800 hours today was 6.07 feet, with a 24-hour change of + 0.10 feet.
The Baton Rouge Gauge reading at 0800 hours today was 17.06 feet, the 24-hour change was not available.
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.
