This document provides guidance to personnel (e.g., planners, cost estimators, specification writers, engineers, managers, and dredging contractors) involved in dredging projects with sediment containing Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC). The guidance is primarily in the form of compiled information gained from experiences on past dredging projects involving MEC and was compiled from a variety of sources. This report describes the different types of dredges and dredging projects that can encounter MEC, describes how these dredges' operational methodologies can be impacted by MEC, and summarizes past project methodology modifications that have been used to deal with MEC. Technical aspects of past MEC/dredging projects are presented with regard to engineering controls to mitigate detonation hazards, underwater MEC detection and discrimination technologies, contracting, public awareness, safety requirements, and MEC separation techniques and (where available) subsequent impacts on production rates and costs.
A study to evaluate the feasibility of using biodiesel fuel in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) floating plant operations to reduce environmentally sensitive emissions, increase use of renewable energy, and reduce the use of fossil fuels was conducted with funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Dredging Operations and Environmental Research (DOER) program and the USACE Sustainability and Energy Efficiency Program. This study was conducted by the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and the USACE Marine Design Center (MDC), in conjunction with support of USACE Headquarters (HQUSACE) and participating USACE Districts. The study began in 2010 with a focus on the methodology to convert four working USACE vessels to biodiesel. Favorable results in regards to mechanical and operational issues cleared the way for evaluating biodiesel on additional vessels. Fourteen vessels were converted to biodiesel use in the expanded study, and additional tests of emissions and fuel usage were conducted on two vessels. This report describes the study that successfully demonstrated that use of certified biodiesel fuel (including biodiesel manufactured from soybeans and from algal oils) by suitable USACE floating plants is feasible to reduce select environmentally sensitive emissions, increase USACE use of renewable energy, and reduce the use of fossil fuels.
Thin layer placement (TLP) is the purposeful placement of thin layers of sediment in an environmentally acceptable manner to achieve a target elevation or thickness. TLP is used for a variety of purposes, such as sediment management, beneficial use of dredged material (DM), and ecological enhancement. The term “thin” is used to distinguish TLP from other methods of sediment placement in which sediments
are applied in layers on the order of several meters thick. In this paper, DM disposal refers to the deposition of sediment in a location and manner where no beneficial use is attained; with DM placement the sediment is used to benefit society and the environment. The application of thin layers of sediment has advantages over more traditional, thicker sediment applications in environments where these thicker layers pose potential challenges to natural resources, infrastructure, navigation, or other assets. Although TLP projects are most often conducted in wetlands, there are open-water applications as well. But because TLP is relatively early in its development, there is a dearth of design and construction information and guidance available to practitioners. This paper provides a high-level summary of pending national TLP guidance being developed by the authors on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center (USACE ERDC).
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