In its latest issue of Terra et Aqua, the International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) has introduced an article about the Horseshoe Bend project in Louisiana.
According to the paper, the capacity for the placement of shoal material dredged from Horseshoe Bend at eight wetland development sites located along the river’s bank lines adjacent to the channel was nearly exhausted in 1999.
To meet the anticipated disposal requirements for future channel maintenance, several alternatives were examined.
The choice was made for strategic placement of dredged sediment midriver and beginning in 2002, strategic placement of the sediment dredged from Horseshoe Bend occurred at the mid-river open water placement area.
This contributed to the development of an approximately 35 ha island mid-river.
This practice of strategically placing dredged sediments upriver of a naturally occurring island aided the island’s growth and produced greater environmental benefits than otherwise would be present using more conventional placement practices.
This article originally was presented at the Western Dredging Association and Texas A&M University Center for Dredging Studies’ “Dredging Summit and Expo 2015”, Houston, Texas, USA, June 22-25, 2015 and received an award for the best project on an environmental topic.
For the complete article click here.