Officials: Dredging demo having intended effect

About halfway through a dredging demonstration in the Atchafalaya River Bar Channel, officials say the project is helping to reduce the density of the fluid mud or “fluff” that builds up in the channel.
Workers are using a hopper dredge for the demonstration to suck up the sediment with vacuum cleaner-type arms, discharge it off the sides of the vessel and keep the sediment in suspension.
Dredging has “significantly reduced the fluff line” over certain stretches of the channel, said Tim Connell, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Atchafalaya region manager.
The Bar Channel is located about 20 miles south of Morgan City and is roughly 20 miles long. Officials will dredge a total of 12 miles during the demonstration.
The main goal for port leaders is to determine the most cost-effective way to keep the Bar Channel dredged to a 20-foot depth year-round. Within a few months of dredging, the channel fills back in with several feet of fluff, making vessel navigation difficult or impossible, according to port officials.
The dredging demonstration began in mid-June and is projected to finish near the end of August. Port leaders are using annually allocated dredging funds from the Corps to do the demonstration. Connell expects the final report on the dredging demonstration to take six months to complete, he said.
Even after the six months of analysis, leaders will have to go through “more trial and error” to figure out what works best to keep the channel dredged, Wade said.
In addition to oil and gas industry traffic, having a 20-foot channel would allow the import-export business to come back to Morgan City. The port hasn’t received a visit from an import-export ship since September 2015 due to lack of water depth in the channel.
The demonstration is costing $45,000 a day, which the port can’t afford to do all year, Port Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said. The cutter head dredge that the Corps used last fall to dredge the channel cost $110,000 a day, he said.
Officials chose the section of the channel and time of the year when the fluff accumulation is the worst, Wade said.
There is certain data obtained from the demonstration that the Corps cannot share with anyone without the permission of the contractor, who has been reluctant to give permission, Connell said.
However, Connell said the information the Corps and port are acquiring from their surveying efforts will be able to tell officials if the method is effective.
Wade agreed that port leaders will still be able to draw conclusions from the dredging demonstration despite not receiving all information from the contractor.
Also during the meeting, officials discussed the islands that were created with sand dredged out of the Atchafalaya River a couple of months ago. Workers dredged a 6,000-foot-long plug of sand between Shell Island and Crewboat Cut that was keeping many vessels from being able to get through the channel.
Within eight weeks of formation, those islands are beginning to grow grass on them, Wade said. Port leaders have discussed possibly using dredge material for beneficial use to create new land and help with coastal restoration, Port Economic Development Manager Cindy Cutrera said.
Port Special Projects Coordinator Mike Knobloch announced the port will receive $444,000 for the 2016 port security grant. The Port of Morgan City was the only port in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi to be awarded the grant, Knobloch said.
Knobloch doesn’t know yet what projects the grant will fund, because the port applied for $1 million of grant money.
In other business, the commission
—Approved a resolution authorizing Wade and port staff to spend money for July and August based on the 2015-16 budget with the exception of raising consultant expenses from $300,000 to $400,000. The commission will actually adopt its 2016-17 budget in August for the fiscal year that began July 1.
—Approved a resolution of support appropriating additional funds to repair flood damage to the Mississippi River System.