USACE Survey & Mapping Employees Awarded for USV Innovation
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ employees in the New York District’s Survey and Mapping Branch, Operations Division, have been recognized with the 2023 Innovation of the Year Award from Army Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C., a national honor recognizing outstanding accomplishments in engineering forwarding the mission and serving the Nation.A team of 36 employees planned, designed and built SURVEYOR AMY, a 6.5-foot unmanned craft that can travel at 16 knots and collects hydrographic survey data ─ measuring the physical features of bodies of water and adjacent land areas, including
USACE Working to Prevent Saltwater from Rising Up the Mississippi
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District is working to delay upriver progression of salt water from the Gulf of Mexico by augmenting the sill initially constructed in July 2023.Construction is underway to increase the existing underwater sill from a depth of -55 feet to a depth of -30 feet. A 620-foot-wide navigation lane will be kept to a depth of -55 feet to ensure deep-draft shipping continues along the nation’s busiest inland waterway.USACE initially constructed the underwater barrier sill in July 2023 to create an artificial basin to delay the ingress of salt water
Threat to Whales Complicates US Research into Seaweed for Biofuel
of large brown seaweed. But they won't allow any new kelp sites with fixed ropes in deeper waters known to be important areas for right whales, said Christian Pepitas of the state's marine fisheries division.For New England waters more than 5.6 kilometers (3 nautical miles) offshore, the U.S. Army Corps has granted permits for 235 seaweed projects since 2018.Citing concerns over entanglement, the federal government now regulates rope use in the lobster fishery and has implemented seasonal closures. The waters of Cape Cod Bay, for example, are off limits to lobster fishers until all right whales
USACE Mobile District Adds New Survey Vessel
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District and Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority held a ceremony to officially welcome a new survey vessel to its fleet in Columbus, Miss., April 28, 2023.The Miss Agnes, built by Theodore, Ala. based Silver Ships, is a custom 26-foot multibeam and single beam capable marine survey vessel that features an enclosed center console, a three-monitor survey station, and an air conditioner unit that is paired with a generator. Powered by twin 200-horsepower Mercury SeaPro outboards and includes a double jack plate which simultaneously controls both
New Survey Vessel Delivered to USACE Portland Distric
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Portland District officially welcomed its newest hydrographic survey vessel, the Beeman, with a dedication and christening ceremony in Newport, Ore., on January 11.The Beeman, whose name honors the legacy of Ogden Beeman, chief of the Portland District’s Waterways Navigation Branch from 1960-1967, replaces and continues the work of the district’s aging vessel, the Patterson, which surveyed Oregon’s coastal entrances for 22 years.“This is a vessel with a critical mission, as dredging and structural operations and maintenance can’t
Coast Guard Monitoring Oil Discharge from Scuttled Liberty Ship
reports of pollution in the vicinity of the artificial reef. Coast Guard personnel conducted preliminary investigations; contacting other government agencies to include Florida’s DEP, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission (FWC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Okaloosa County’s coastal resource manager.Since receiving initial reports of pollution, the Coast Guard, together with federal, state and local stakeholders, continued to monitor the situation. Earlier this year, the Oil Spill
Corps Building Underwater Sill to Halt Saltwater Intrusion in Mississippi River
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District began construction of an underwater sill October 11, 2022, across the bed of the Mississippi River channel to prevent further upriver progression of salt water from the Gulf of Mexico.The Mississippi River’s volume of water has fallen to a level that allows salt water to intrude upstream. Saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico moves upriver in a wedge shape that may stretch up approximately 20 miles from the bottom to the surface of the river.To stop the salt water from moving upriver and reduce the risk to freshwater intakes, the New Orleans
Army Corps, Maryland DOT to Commence $4 Billion Chesapeake Bay Restoration Project
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District, and the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) signed a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) for the $4 billion Mid-Chesapeake Bay ecosystem restoration project at MDOT Headquarters, August 23, 2022.The PPA – signed by Col. Estee Pinchasin, Baltimore District commander, and MDOT Secretary James F. Ports, Jr. – outlines the roles, responsibilities, and financial obligations for both partners for the restoration of both James and Barren islands in Dorchester County, beneficially re-using material dredged from the Port of
Kongsberg Maritime Launches ScanFuse Powered by Qii.AI
scour threatens the structure, identify degradation of the materials of construction that require remediation, and identify changes to identified areas of concern over time. The American Society of Civil Engineers, the United States’ Federal Highway Traffic Administration, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers include sections on sonar inspection in their respective manuals for infrastructure and bridge inspection.Civil Engineers can create sonar images for assessment using high-resolution single beam sector scanning sonar like Kongsberg Maritime’s 1171 sonar or using multibeam sonars
February 2024
