WEDA-TechNotes Program Suggested to Provide Industry with Detailed Information on Dredging Topics

The Western Dredging Association (WEDA) Environmental Commission Chair Craig Vogt will present his idea for a WEDA-TechNotes program at the Environmental Commission meeting on Tuesday, June 4 at the WEDA 2019 Dredging Summit and Expo in Chicago. The proposed plan will facilitate the position of WEDA as the center of excellence in technical knowledge regarding dredging, dredged material management, and marine construction by producing technical notes on topics of interest to the dredging industry, and making them available as PDFs on the organization’s website.
The TechNotes would be two to four-page summaries of technical information on dredging technologies, engineering aspects of navigation and environmental dredging, dredged material management, and environmental and safety issues on dredging, navigation, marine engineering and construction projects.

The information in each WEDA-TechNote would interest those in the dredging, navigation, marine engineering and construction community, i.e., dredging contractors, equipment manufacturers, consultants, academics, students, regulators, the public, media and other stakeholders. Each TechNote would be drafted by one or two WEDA members and be peer-reviewed by two other WEDA members that are selected by the chair of the WEDA Environmental Commission, the WEDA Safety Commission or other WEDA commissions or committees. The WEDA Board of Directors, or their designee, would conduct the final review before placing the final TechNote on the WEDA website.

The WEDA Environmental Commission would initiate development of WEDA-TechNotes related to environmental concerns and issues, the Safety Commission would steward safety issues and concerns, and topics in Dredging 101 would serve as the basis for developing the first WEDA-TechNotes.
Initial plans for the TechNotes call for a summary of information and not in-depth engineering and technical reviews of information. Key references will be cited for more comprehensive and detailed information.

Depending upon the subject and who is preparing the WEDA-TechNote, the ideal timeframe from initiation to posting on the website is four to six months. The program will be introduced and initiated during the Environmental Commission meeting in Chicago. At that meeting, the Environmental Commission will seek volunteers to prepare WEDA-TechNotes on the following topics:
• What is Dredging-Types and Characteristics of Dredging Projects
• Benefits of Dredging
• What are Dredges: Hopper Dredges, Pipeline Dredges, Mechanical Dredges
• Dredged Material Disposal and Management (open water, CDFs, CADs, Upland)
• Beneficial Use of Dredged Material
• Regulatory Roles of Federal and State Agencies in Dredging
• Navigation Dredging: Regulatory Overview
• Dredged Material Characterization and Testing
• Permit Terms and Conditions in Dredging
• Environmental Issues Associated with Dredging
• Environmental Monitoring of Dredging
• Mitigation and Dredging
• Engineering with Nature

The plan is to prepare and post the first notes by the end of 2019, with a long-term schedule including the production or revision of four to six WEDA-TechNotes (from the Environmental Commission) every calendar year. Regular review of previous publications would be incorporated into the overall schedule. When WEDA-TechNotes are placed on the website, members will be notified.

Vogt referenced the International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) Facts About series, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers TechNotes as templates for the WEDA program. Websites for these programs are available here:
IADC
USACE

_{Source: dredgemag.com}