Posted on December 19, 2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has completed dredging four federal navigation channels in New York-New Jersey Harbor ─ Newark Bay Main Channel, Port Newark, Port Elizabeth and South Elizabeth ⎼ through the Newark Bay Maintenance Dredging Project. The work supports deep-draft commercial vessels calling on The Port of New York that, in turn, generates billions for the regional economy each year.
Approximately 250,000 cubic yards of accumulated sediment was removed from these 40- and 50-foot shipping channels, allowing them to maintain authorized depths for the safe navigation of massive container ships. Maintenance dredging of Newark Bay channels is conducted each year ─ the Project Delivery Team (a group of interdisciplinary professionals guiding the initiative) has been working hard to execute a maintenance-dredging construction project each year, ensuring dredging is conducted safely, on schedule and within budget.
ABOUT NEWARK BAY
Newark Bay is a tidal bay approximately six miles long and one mile wide in New Jersey ─ just west of Manhattan ─ where the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers meet. A partially-enclosed body of water, sediment collects there for a number of reasons: its location near the mouth of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers that deposits sediment; stormwater runoff from municipalities; tidal currents trapping sediment; and slow water flow allowing silt and clay to accumulate on the sea floor.
The cost of the project was approximately $45 million. Besides dredging, funds also paid for sediment sampling and monitoring, dredged-material management, engineering and design work, environmental coordination with government agencies, hydrographic surveys (measuring water depth) and support from New York’s Contracting Division.
DREDGING CHALLENGES
Project manager Jun Yan explained that the challenge of dredging the Newark Bay Federal Navigation Channel is characterizing the suitability of sediments on the sea floor and coordinating with state environmental agencies to allow for placement of dredged materials.
Before a contract can be awarded, preliminary surveys and sediment samplings gather data on the volume and contaminant characteristics of the bottom material to be dredged (planning phase). Subsequently the project engineer, Ken Peterson, prepares the dredging plans and specifications along with coordination with environmental agencies (design phase). Finally, New York’s Office of Counsel and Contracting Division provides support to ensure the contractor has the plans and specifications needed for the project.
New York’s Operations, Readiness, and Regulatory Functions Division Chief Randall Hintz stated: “Maintenance dredging activities are critical for the long-term viability of The Port of New York and New Jersey. Commercial container ships continue to increase in size and weight, requiring deeper water to navigate safely. This work ensures New York-New Jersey Harbor can safely accommodate these ships and, in turn, support the many billions in commerce they generate each year.”
Project manager Jun Yan noted: “We’re proud of the maintenance dredging work at Newark Bay and its importance to maritime commerce for New York-New Jersey Harbor. This project is the direct result of New York District team members’ hard work at surveying, sediment sampling, preparing the plan and specifications, conducting a legal review and awarding the contract. Their support has been vital.”
BENEFICIAL RE-USE
The project is part of the District’s Dredged Material Management Plan ─ a long-term strategic plan for the placement of dredged materials from federal, state and local channels (new and existing). This ensures there’s adequate placement capacity to properly manage dredged material in an environmentally and economically-acceptable manner.
Sediment is placed at environmentally-approved sites through a process known as beneficial re-use. For this project, materials are being re-used in two ways: transported by truck to a brownfield remediation site in Bethlehem, PA (85 miles west of New York City), and as state-required alternate daily cover at municipal landfills in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
TEAM SITE VISIT
Recently, PDT members joined Operations Division personnel on a site visit to the project, providing an opportunity for those normally working behind the scenes to get a close-up view of dredging operations. The team is comprised of the following professionals:
● Pradeep Bhadur ● Survey Branch ● Kelly Vega ● Gerlyn Perlas
● Michael Oseback ● Raphael Dungca ● John Mraz ● Kenneth Peterson
● Chad Buczkowski ● Ryan Ferguson ● Tiffani Lee ● Robin Tulsiram
● Curtis Morgan ● Frances Postiglione ● Mohenda Surage ● Nicholas Emanuel
● Frank Cashman ● Miguel Surage ● Jordan Moran ● Lorraine Lee
● Barbara Hebel ● Rita Fang ● Randall Hintz ● Jun Yan
GOVERNMENT COLLABORATION
The District is working with eight government agencies to successfully meet the mission:
● U.S. Department of the Interior
● U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
● U.S. Department of Commerce
● National Marine Fisheries Service
● U.S. Coast Guard
● New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
● Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
● Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
