The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, has just reported that contractors working on the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project are on track to finish several SHEP-related features in 2017.
Senior project manager for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, Spencer Davis, recently provided an update on the environmental mitigation features outside of the actual harbor and entrance channel deepening.
According to him, now more than two years in, contractors continue to push the project forward on several fronts and are expected to wrap up five contracts this year.
CSS Georgia : Archaeologists and Navy divers spent much of 2015 surveying and recovering thousands of artifacts, and inerting 241 pieces of ordnance. Conservation of the recovered artifacts continues at Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Laboratory.
This summer, archaeologists and the Navy will return to recover the remaining two casemate sections of the CSS Georgia which were unable to be recovered during the 2015 effort.
First Dike Raising : Herve Cody Construction has completed nearly 60 percent of the dike raising contract. When finished, the dike at Dredged Material Containment Area 14A will have been raised five feet in preparation to receive the dredged material from the inner harbor. Davis said that the dike raising is estimated to be completed by June 2017.
Raw Water Storage Impoundment : Also nearly 60 percent complete, the Raw Water Storage Impoundment is expected to be finished this summer. The 97 million-gallon reservoir will provide an additional source of fresh water in rare cases when low river flows and unusually high tides reduce the quality of available water near Abercorn Creek.
Sediment Basin Tide Gate Removal : The contractor, DeMoya / Continental Joint Venture, has completed 32 percent of the project to remove the 1970s-era tide gate structure with its abutments, and return the Back River to its original width. The structure was originally constructed to reduce shoaling in the Savannah River’s main channel. This feature is expected to be completed by December 2017.
Dissolved Oxygen Injection System : Work continues at two sites on the Savannah River for the Dissolved Oxygen Injection System. In December 2016, CDM Constructors Inc. received the 12 Speece cones for the system, four of which will be placed at the downriver site on Hutchinson Island and the remaining eight will be placed at the upriver site near Plant McIntosh in Rincon, Ga.
The system forces oxygen into river water to ensure current levels of dissolved oxygen are maintained before the shipping channel is deepened. The project is currently 25 percent complete. When it’s finished, which is projected for December 2017, the system will process about 150 million gallons of water per day.