The Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley New Orleans (MVN) has awarded Southwest Pass Hopper Dredge Rental Contract #1-2019 to Manson Construction.  Manson will respond with the hopper dredge GLENN EDWARDS.  The industry cutterhead dredge R.S. WEEKS (Weeks Marine) was released from the contract at the Hopper Dredge Disposal Area (HDDA) and is now dredging in Southwest Pass.

TRANSIT RESTRICTIONS SOUTHWEST PASS (SWP):

The Bar Pilots continue to utilize the flocculation based transit restriction for all inbound vessels arriving Southwest Pass with a freshwater draft of 38-feet or greater.  Inbound vessels with a draft of 38-feet or greater are only allowed to enter SWP “between 3 hours after low tide, to 3 hours after high tide at SWP.”  The restriction became effective at 1000 hours on, Monday, November 26, 2018.  The official notice as released by the Bar Pilots is attached, please refer to it for complete details.

The Federal Pilots implemented a similar flocculation based restriction for inbound vessels with a draft of 38-feet or greater on November 27, 2018.  The official notice is also attached.

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

 NEWPORT: The hopper dredge NEWPORT (Manson Construction) is dredging Mile 0.5 Above Head of Passes (AHP) to Mile 1 Below Head of Passes (BHP).  The NEWPORT commenced dredging under Southwest Pass Hopper Dredge Rental Contract #6-2018 in SWP on November 28, 2018.

GLENN EDWARDS: The hopper dredge GLENN EDWARDS (Manson Construction) is expected to begin dredging in SWP tomorrow Tuesday, December 18, 2018.  The hopper’s first assignment is expected to below the location of the R.S. WEEKS.

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

R.S. WEEKS: The industry cutterhead dredge R.S. WEEKS commenced dredging in SWP on under Southwest Pass Cuttherhead Rental Contract #1-2019.  The cutterhead had removed 2 million cubic yards of material from the Hopper Dredge Disposal Area and is expected to return to the HDDA contract in February 2019 when it is expected to be relieved by a second cutterhead dredge.  The R.S. WEEKS began dredging from Mile 10.5 BHP to Mile 14 BHP on Saturday, December 15, 2018 on the eastern side of the channel.

The Carrollton Gauge (New Orleans) reading at 0900 hours today was 12.16 feet with a 24-hour change of – 0.08.

The Baton Rouge Gauge reading at 1000 hours today was 32.17 feet with a 24-hour change of + 0.20 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.

Please see the attached reports for complete details on dredge assignments.