Engineering

A four-year battle over a plan to dredge 13 miles of waterways to clear San Francisco Bay for larger oil tankers ended Monday, with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers announcing it was scuttling the project.

On Monday, one of the most active and tumultuous Atlantic hurricane seasons on record will end.

Work is under way to construct a permanent floodgate on Bayou Chene near Morgan City, La., that will provide backwater flood protection for six parishes in the path of Mississippi and Atchafalaya river overflows that result from high water events.

Funding will help with fencing and removal of hooved animals as well as creating firebreaks

VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers says thousands of people have sent comments about a proposal for huge pumps to drain floodwaters from parts of the rural Mississippi Delta.

Torrance’s Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center will, by March, finally see the overdue restoration of its vernal pools, critically important wetland habitat home to numerous rare plants and animals, including two species of fairy shrimp, at a cost of about $470,000.

WILMINGTON, N.C. — The University of North Carolina Wilmington started offering a bachelor's degree in coastal engineering in 2019, which was the first of its kind in the country.

Weeks Marine has received a Notice to Proceed (NTP) from the Carteret County officials to begin mobilization of personnel and equipment needed for the Morehead City dredging & concurrent beach nourishment works.

LUDINGTON, MICHIGAN — As the wind whipped across the top of the Big Sable Point lighthouse, one of the most famous and beloved on the Great Lakes, Jim Gallie pointed to the disappearing beach: “It’s been progressively getting worse.”

The town has established a coastal management program to provide long-term storm protection, while also offering recreational benefits.

HARLINGEN — Federal and state officials have announced a major windfall of $5.6 million for restoration of wetlands and protection of bird nesting sites at the Bahia Grande Unit of Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.

I’m all for improving the overall well-being of the Atchafalaya Basin.

GLEASON BEACH, Calif. — A few winding turns past Bodega Bay, along foggy bluffs and coastal prairie, relentless waves pound a crumbling stretch of coastline in dire need of saving.

The permit is last big hurdle for the construction project, which will be one of largest in recent history for Minnesota.

Texas Congressman, Filemon Vela, has announced that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have awarded $150,000 to the City of South Padre Island as part of the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF).

A federal court says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can’t demolish a dam downriver from Augusta if it doesn’t maintain the current water level.

The Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine project, saying it was “contrary to the public interest.”

Lithium is crucial for the transition to renewables, but mining it has been environmentally costly. Now a more sustainable source of lithium has been found deep beneath our feet.

The Coastal Resources Commission last week unanimously approved the reauthorization of the static vegetation line exception for Bogue Banks communities for another five years.

With ample public feedback, the Army Corps of Engineers is now re-evaluating which projects to push forward to reduce flooding along Buffalo Bayou.

A lattice work of marsh and canals, the Louisiana coastline, is vanishing.

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (LA TIG) has approved $234.6 million in funds resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement for restoration projects that will create and restore wetlands in Plaquemines and Terrebonne Parishes.

The Aurora City Council is set to approve dredging of Mastodon Lake on the East Side that would help drainage and water quality and ease flooding.

Water levels in August were as low as 3 feet in some parts of the Jupiter Inlet. As much as 110,000 cubic yards of sediment could be dredged.

PINE KNOLL SHORES — Town commissioners are debating how to divide Federal Emergency Management Agency funding among several potential projects.

Late December start anticipated.

In a historic move to resurrect the largest dam removal project in the U.S., Oregon, California, the Yurok Tribe and the Karuk Tribe signed an agreement on Tuesday to push forward on dam removal.

Congratulations to North Waterfront Park in Wilmington, North Carolina!

FOLLY BEACH — A new plan to battle erosion in this barrier island community would include larger beach renourishment projects than in the past and a newly constructed dune that would sit about 7 feet off the ground.

In response to the commentary by Armin Cantini (“Coastal study of storm-surge system deserves support,” The Daily News, Nov. 13): The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas General Land Office are proposing a multi-billion tax dollar-funded two-mile long gate system across the mouth of Galveston Bay and levees in Galveston and Port Bolivar to “keep storm surge in the Gulf.”

BOGUE BANKS — Bogue Banks towns are still exempt from state oceanfront development setback rules, and proposed rules are in the works to encourage other coastal communities to follow their example.

While Louisiana will not receive any additional funds with the release of the second phase of the latest RESTORE Act funding plan, Louisiana is expected to receive $1 million to fund various research and planning initiatives.

Governor Kay Ivey announced Thursday that $25,970,000 million worth of projects on Alabama’s coastline have been funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF).

Winter project avoids impacting the tourist season

The state of Maryland is kicking off an exploration of the sediment impacted behind Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River and how that clay, silt and sand — mixed with various forms of debris and pollution — might be reused.

As Tropical Storm Eta battered Manatee County on its way to landfall at Cedar Key, it may have been a $17.3 million beach renourishment project that protected Anna Maria Island from the total inundation of a storm surge.

Defense Department funds oyster reef and shoreline restoration in Virginia and North Carolina

Maryland is ticketed to receive more than $2.8 million in federal funding and associated grant money to prevent coastal flooding in the town of Oxford on the Eastern Shore.

Billions poured into restoration efforts

The Carteret County Beach Commission voted unanimously Monday to recommend the county “stay the course” and not opt into a federal nourishment program for Bogue Banks.

Commissioners Tuesday night authorized Town Manager Matt Zapp to negotiate a contract with engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol to develop a comprehensive stormwater management plan.

Flagler Beach residents still unsure of government project

It’s a lawsuit four years in the making, and one the Town of Ocean Isle Beach hopes is resolved soon so construction of a terminal groin (a type of jetty) can move forward, while conservationists hope that does not happen.

Environmentalists concerned over massive expansion into critical biodiversity areas.

The project is expected to cost $366 million and will take four years to complete.

In another big step in the the plan to rebuild dunes along Flagler’s 18 miles of shore, the county secured a $3.8 million state grant to build the segment that parallels Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area at the south end of Flagler Beach, extending the planned 2.6 miles of dune reconstruction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the city.

The Carteret County Beach Commission is poised to make a major decision Monday — whether to switch from local and state funding to federal funding and management for Bogue Banks beach nourishment projects.

Key Biscayne’s long term beach management received a major boost Friday as officials learned the village has been included in the Miami-Dade County Coastal Storm Risk Management feasibility study being developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- the first step in possible inclusion of a 50-year plan.

The Town of Fort Myers Beach will receive approximately $1.3 million for designing and permitting for beach re-nourishment, erosion monitoring, as well as beach and shoreline maintenance as part of 10 inter-local agreements approved by the Lee County Board of County Commissioners for $3.56 million worth of beach projects and maintenance work throughout the county.

Ten years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the state is slowly pushing billions in settlement dollars towards coastal restoration.

Construction could start in December after the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Department of Natural Resources approved the project; Army Corps of Engineers permit expected.

Fall storms threaten important lake whitefish spawning habitat

Officials have finalized the feasibility study for a coastal barrier that would protect Galveston Bay and its surrounding communities from hurricanes, and residents have a chance to weigh in on the plan before it goes to the U.S. Congress.

A dredging project will be going on in the Ocean City inlet throughout November, and it’s a win-win for boat navigation and erosion prevention in the area.

A new way to meet the growing demand for minerals critical to electric vehicle, electronics and battery manufacturers could become commercially available within this decade, says the World Economic Forum (WEF).

North Topsail Beach is moving forward with plans to embark on a joint, 50-year, multi-million-dollar beach renourishment project.

Mining agencies promise to minimize harm to ocean ecosystems. Scientists say we can’t predict its full extent

Tide gates, dune working at Read Avenue bayside

A local environmental group and a state agency have been awarded state grants for restoration projects in Carteret County.

New York State officials have designated a contractor to start a $439 million project that will divert sewage out of Reynolds Channel and into the ocean by laying miles of pipe under Sunrise Highway.

Despite the odds, an environment official is confident that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and its private contractor for the controversial Manila Bay Beach Nourishment Project can complete the project on time.

The Army Corps of Engineers is considering whether potential environmental impacts require it to change, suspend or revoke the permit for a $9.4 billion plastics complex planned in Louisiana by a Taiwan company, U.S. Department of Justice lawyers said Wednesday.

In September, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association awarded the Lower Columbia Solutions Group the 2020 Robert L. Wiegel Coastal Project of the Year.

These are exciting times for the U.S. dredging industry, as companies respond to growing demand.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and, Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday to announce the start of construction on the Rockaways-Atlantic Shorefront Project, the $336 million initiative to strengthen the shoreline along six miles of the Rockaway Peninsula.

An $863 million effort to improve hurricane flood protection and resiliency, including levees and floodwalls, for a 65-square-mile area that includes Port Arthur, Texas, and adjacent communities will move forward under a contract awarded to a joint venture of Freese and Nichols, COWI and CDM Smith (FCC-JV) by the U.S. Corps of Engineers Galveston District and Jefferson County Drainage District No. 7 for some of the work.

The sand needed to rebuild beaches along South Carolina and other parts of the Southeast will become scarcer over the next 50 years and there may be shortages, an analysis done for the Army Corps of Engineers says.

One of the most destructive storms in Vietnam’s South Central Coast in living memory, Typhoon Damrey, hit Khánh Hòa province with its full force on November 4, 2017.

Human society typically adapts to sea-level rise, which will likely happen amid our climate crisis.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to temporarily suspend a permit critical for the construction of a $9.4 billion chemical complex proposed in St. James Parish in hopes of addressing criticisms raised by environmental and community groups.

Summer’s over, the crowds are off the Jersey Shore beaches, and the routine replenishment of sand goes on throughout the state.

The Cook Islands prime minister has denied that his country is gambling with ocean health by opening up for deep sea mining exploration.

SARASOTA — Anyone who has visited or driven by the beach areas on Manasota Key has seen the results of a beach renourishment project earlier this year by Sarasota and Charlotte counties.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC is making nice progress on the St. Johns County’s Coastal Storm Risk Management Project.

An active hurricane season has led to several delays for beach renourishment.

Engineers have given the Prince Street seawall at Cronulla the "thumbs up" after another battering by big seas.

An international team of coastal scientists has dismissed suggestions that half the world's beaches could become extinct over the course of the 21st century.

Virginia leaders recently gathered to break ground on expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the largest infrastructure project in the state’s history.

EMERALD ISLE — The Emerald Isle beach nourishment project is officially set to begin the final week of January.

An official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the P389-million Manila Bay Beach Nourishment Project is still a work-in-progress and will require the contractor to procure and overlay more crushed dolomite.

After being closed on July 1, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Rock Island District, announced on Oct. 29 that lock and dam construction was complete and the Illinois Waterway locks have re-opened to navigation after a series of planned, extended consolidated closures.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — On Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it released a draft Integrated General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment for the City of Folly Beach and its barrier island.

Construction on six-miles of storm surge flood protection along the Queens waterfront began on Thursday. The work is starting eight years after Hurricane Sandy battered waterfront communities in the Rockaways and across New York City.

COLLINSVILLE — The first phase of a highly touted tidal marsh recovery plan was completed this week when a levee was breached and the restored marsh area was reconnected to the San Francisco Bay estuary for the first time since the late 1800s.

The commencement ceremony for the second Jiaozhou Bay Tunnel project, also the world's longest Subsea road tunnel, was held in Qingdao's West Coast New Area on October 29, bringing together leaders and experts from government, academia, and Qingdao Conson Development (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Qingdao Conson Development") to witness its kick-off.

A Collier County beach renourishment project on Naples shores is set to begin early next month.

The Army Corps of Engineers has released the second draft of proposed coastal barrier that would fundamentally alter the southeast Texas coastline, with massive sea gates across the Houston Ship Channel and 43 miles of dunes and renourished beaches spanning Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston.

The beaches and coastal environment are the primary draw for visitors to Lee County.

Watershed restoration jobs on the Oregon coast got a big boost this summer and fall as the NOAA Restoration Center awarded Wild Salmon Center (WSC) $824,000 to support habitat restoration projects implemented through the Coast Coho Partnership (CCP).

Artificial reef, bypass system, groins considered for eroding coastline

Project expected to move 1.3 million cubic yards of sand

Sandy beaches can survive sea-level rises as long as they have space to move

Florida is home to pristine beaches, diverse and exotic wildlife, and unparalleled natural landscapes.

The biggest dredge in the history of the St. Johns River won't dig as deeply into taxpayer pockets as originally expected because the tab is shaping up to be about $100 million less than the original estimate when dredging started in early 2018.

In a landmark ruling, a federal judge yesterday ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider the hazards of toxic algae when it releases water from Lake Okeechobee. WLRN’s Jenny Staletovich tells us more.

On September 15, 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) released a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify and reissue its existing Nationwide Permits (“NWPs”) and is accepting public comments through November 16, 2020.

A Collier County beach renourishment project on Naples shores is set to begin early next month.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing year-round maintenance hopper dredging and bed leveling for the Wilmington and Morehead City harbors and the Division of Coastal Management is accepting comments on the proposal until Nov. 25.

An artificial beach strip in Manila Bay has environmentalists up in arms. Scientists warn its dolomite sand could harm people's health and marine wildlife.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday awarded a contract for beach replenishment along New Jersey's southern tip.