CPRA has awarded all of its recent dredging work on
a low-bid basis, consistent with the state's bid laws. “To
date, Illinois-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and New
Jersey-headquartered Weeks Marine have received the
most dredging contracts let by CPRA,” Simoneaux said.
Mississippi River sediment diversions in the master plan
are crucial to building and maintaining land, along with
protecting levee investments. The agency wants to see sedi-
ment diversions constructed as soon as possible.
The state hopes to build the Mid-Barataria Sediment Di-
version at mile marker 60.7 on the west side of the Missis-
sippi River, near Myrtle Grove in Plaquemines Parish. The
diversion would restore Barataria Basin habitat, including
fresh, intermediate and brackish marshes, by re-introducing
sediment and nutrients that maintained the area in the past.
The project would include dredging of sediment mined
from the Mississippi River. “As coastal conditions decline,
the state must expand ways to leverage the sediment and
land-building power of the river on an even greater scale in
future master plans,” CPRA said in January.
Regarding the new WIIN legislation, “CPRA views its
passage as a very positive thing for ports, the Army Corps
and other entities involved in navigation dredging,” Simo-
neaux said. “But how ecosystem restoration fi ts or applies
under this legislation hasn't been determined yet.”
As for the Army Corps' plan to deepen parts of the
lower Mississippi River channel, including stretches be-
tween New Orleans and Baton Rouge, “CPRA is always
in favor of innovative dredging opportunities,” Simoneaux
said. “But given the location of the reaches included in
this deepening proposal, along with the locations of dredg-
ing projects in our 2017 master plan, it may not be cost-
feasible to use dredged material from this deepening for
ecosystem restoration.” CPRA will continue to examine
the possible use of that dredged material.Army Corps sees that channels are dredged
Keeping the lower Mississippi open for navigation is the
Corps' biggest dredging cost in south Louisiana. Over the
last fi ve years, dredging from Mile 10 AHP (above Head
of Passes) to 22 BHP (below Head of Passes) cost an aver-
age $56 million, Army Corps spokesman Rene Poche in
New Orleans said last month. “That includes Southwest
Pass, which runs from Mile 0 to 22 BHP. A combination
of cutterhead dredges and hopper dredges is used there.”
Annually, an average 64 percent of the material dredged
from Mile 10 AHP to 22 BHP is used benefi cially, Poche
said. This includes marsh creation, wetlands nourishment,
and restoring ridges and barrier islands. The Corps tries to
use dredged material benefi cially whenever it's cost-effec-
tive and meets federal laws, and utilizes it along the banks
of South and Southwest Pass, in the Delta National Wild-
life Refuge, the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management
Area and in the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge.
Besides the Mississippi River, the Corps' other big
dredging projects are along the Calcasieu River and Pass
in southwest Louisiana, and the Atchafalaya Basin in
the south central part of the state. “The Calcasieu Proj-
ect allows deep-draft, 40-foot access to the Port of Lake
Charles and terminals along the Calcasieu River,” Poche
said. Dredging is done at a number of spots in the Atcha-
falaya Basin to maintain 12-foot channels for commercial
navigation, he said. These include “Three Rivers,” where
the Red, Atchafalaya and Old Rivers meet in east-central
Louisiana; the Old River Lock Forebay, northwest of Ba-
ton Rouge; below Bayou Sorrel lock to the south of BatonDREDGING OUTLOOK
Credit: LA Coastal Protection and Restoration AuthoritySediment being delivered to create marsh near Bayou
Dupont, just south of Belle Chasse and Jean Lafi tte. All of
these Louisiana marsh creation projects have been created
with sediment dredged either from the river or from offshore.