Maine Dredge Team Meeting April 2025 agenda/outline
April 7, 2025
(See
·
Projects completed 2024-2025
o
Isles of Shoals breakwater repairs – New
Hampshire/Maine
§ Repair
damage to 3 breakwaters
§ Construction
began in June 2023, wrapped in November 2024
§ 11,000
tons of new armor stone
§ Final
cost around $10 million
o
Kennebec River (USN support-maintenance
dredging)
§ Hoping
to dredge every 2 years
§ 40-60k
cy material by hopper dredge; disposal at alternative Jack Knife Ledge Disposal
Area
§ Completed
in January 2025
§ No
take of endangered species occurred
§ USN
will be looking to expand the dredging footprint for the 2028 dredge adjacent
to Bath Iron Works – still within the navigation channel
·
Sand suitable for placement in-river
·
Carlton Bridge to Doubling Point
·
USN coordinating NEPA and state reviews
o
May need additional consultation and/or permit
updates to account for changes in footprint, increased dredging frequency, and use
of alternate disposal area
o
Josias River, Ogunquit maintenance dredging
§ Mechanically
dredged 10,300 cy of material; disposal at Isles of Shoals North Disposal Site
§ Completed
in March
§ Had to
leave some areas untouched due to presence of hard material (ledge)
§ Final
survey on ehydro
website
§ Last
dredged 1994
·
Scheduled for award in 2025
o
Narraguagus River Maintenance Dredging
§ 2024
contract solicitation cancelled – only one bidder, over budget
§ Re-advertised
March 17, 2025 hoping to open bid April 17, 2025
§ Looking
to do full FMP 150k cy of material; disposal at Douglas Isle Disposal Site
o
Bar Harbor breakwater repairs
§ 2
repair areas between Bald Porcupine Island and Porcupine Dry Ledge and beyond
Dry Ledge
§ WQC/CZM
submitted for review in March
§ Goal
to advertise contract in September 2025
§ Historical
munitions testing in the area – USACE Baltimore District conducted a
determination for probability of UXOs and found there would be low probability
o
Section 111 Shore Damage Mitigation Project –
Camp Ellis, Saco
§ Phase
I – 750 linear foot stone spur jetty and beach fill (~73k CY)
§ Phase
2 – sand nourishment
§ Authorizations
under RHA CAP Section 111 at $12.5 million, WRDA 2007 to $27 million, WRDA 2022
to $45 million
§ WQC/CZM
app for Phase I to be submitted spring 2025
§ Potential
to use sand from Scarborough Beach depending on timing of projects – dredging
not to impede navigability; looked for offshore borrow sources; potentially trucking
material from upland quarry
· Scheduled for 2026+
o
Isle au Haut Thoroughfare
§ In early
planning phase
§ Mechanical
dredging ~ 2,400 cy – mostly sand,
gravel, cobble – suitable for open water disposal; Flake Island disposal site
under consideration
§ Current
cost estimate ~$3M
§ Working
with fishermen to ensure material is placed beneficially for habitat and
fishing grounds
§ WQC
and CZM applications anticipa
ted in summer 2025
§ 2026
construction
o
Searsport Harbor maintenance dredging
§ Mechanical
dredging of ~30k cy of material; not suitable for open water – potential to go
in CAD cell – 2 sites under investigation; preferred CAD site outside channel
near Mack Point
·
Legacy contamination with mercury from
Holtrachem detected
§ WQC
and CZM applications anticipated in summer 2025
o
Union River Maintenance Dredging
§ Dredged
in 2006-07 – encountered very fine wood pulp coming from upstream mills;
material had been disposed at Tupper Ledge
·
Wood pulp does not want to stay in one place
§ Looking
to re-align channel entrance – limits the amount of future material to be
dredged; anchorage still needs to be dredged – material not suitable for
aquatic disposal; identifying potential upland sites
§ USACE
conducting due diligence; coordinating with USCG
§ Looking
to reach decision point for path forward spring 2025
§ **Question
for the group: has anyone seen successful aquatic disposal of wood pulp?
o
Georges River
§ Working
to identify potential beneficial use placement sites, open water placement
sites
§ ~24-25k
cy material to go to 10 feet; town wants to go to 16 feet – increases dredge
material to ~80k cy
§ Undertaking
draft EA – late summer/early fall for public review and WQC/CZM for project to
be conducted fall 2026 (assuming funding from congress)
§ Has
gone through suitability determination to 10 feet – mostly silty with some fine
grain sands; needs analysis to 16 feet – scheduled for this sampling season
·
Identified potential need in marshes close to
Georges River – not sure how to get the material there
·
Any upland beneficial use needs to consider DEP
criteria which may be slightly different from USACE
· Marine Construction Industry Day on May 5
virtual event from 9am-12pm
o
Share with marine construction industry
o
Email nae-pn-nav@usace.army.mil to
register and use the subject line “Marine Industry Day”
Portland
CAD cell project
·
First CAD cell in the state of Maine –
constructed January-March 2025
·
4 acre hole
·
Material from 3 projects dredged this season
placed in the CAD cell – Maine State Pier, Ocean Gateway, Turner’s Island
(interim cap)
·
~40 total projects in Portland Harbor to use
cell
·
Monitoring to determine if there should be
changes to CAD cell management plan
enEnd
