Upland beneficial uses for dredged material include construction fill, landscaping, agricultural applications and wetland/habitat enhancement. Beach and littoral nourishment are used with approximately 12% of Great Lakes dredged material (1993-1996).īeneficial use of dredged material includes beach and littoral nourishment (as discussed above) and a variety of upland applications, described here. Littoral nourishment involves a discharge to near shore, shallow areas, and is typically done with bottom dump scows when a mechanical dredge is used. Suitable dredged material is typically a fine sand, and may only stay on the beach for a limited time before being eroded into the littoral drift. Beach nourishment is typically discharged by pipeline from a hydraulic dredge.

Most open water disposal sites in the Great Lakes are dispersive in nature.īeach/littoral nourishment involves the placement of dredged material directly onto a beach or into the shallow water.

Open water placement is used with approximately 32% of Great Lakes dredged material (1993-1996). The dredged material may remain in a mound at the site or disperse depending on the material's physical properties and the hydrodynamics of the disposal site. Discharged dredged material settles through the water column and deposits on the bottom at the disposal site. Mechanically dredged material may be placed in bottom-dump barges or scows and towed to disposal sites several miles away. Hydraulically dredged material may be discharged by pipeline a short distance offshore. Open water placement involves the discharge of dredged material directly to the lake or river. This page will provide an overview of the options available for managing dredged material, which include: Each year, between 3 and 5 million cubic yards of sediments are dredged from the Great Lakes by the Corps, private industry, municipal and private marinas, utilities and others.

Army corps st johns river dredge report