Project Description
Since 1986, Taylor Engineering has provided services to the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND), the local sponsor of Florida’s Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Okeechobee Waterway, to prepare and implement long-term dredged material management plans for 502 miles of federal navigation channels. This work has required close coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Jacksonville District, federal and state permitting agencies, local governments, and through numerous public workshops, local citizens groups.
The primary program objective is to locate, obtain, design, and permit dredged material management sites – inclusive of upland dredged material management and beach placement areas – capable of handling projected 50-year maintenance dredging requirements in 12 Florida counties. Historic USACE engineering plans and records are analyzed to establish logical channel reaches and associated 50-year dredging requirements. Candidate sites for each reach are then identified and ranked via color infrared and black and white aerial photography, soils and wetland inventory maps, and on-site inspections. Various management options are then evaluated to arrive at a management concept that represents the most feasible combination of engineering, operational, archeological/cultural, environmental, and cost considerations.
During planning and construction, each upland dredged material management area (DMMA) is custom designed and built with on-site material. Design aspects of each facility include a field investigation and site visit, geotechnical investigation, wetland and wildlife impact assessment, cultural resources assessment, dredged material quantity/quality analysis, embankment design, site drainage design, sediment and erosion control measures, access road design, control/measurement of groundwater impacts, design of water control structures for operations and site drainage, and on-site mitigation. Final design documents include construction plans, specifications, bid quantities, engineering cost estimates, and complete contract documents. The sediment identified for dredging is also evaluated for beach compatibility under Florida Statutes. After receiving construction and operation permits from state and federal authorities, dredged material may be placed in the DMMA and transferred to the beach or pumped directly to the beach from the dredging site.
In total, this program has identified 53 upland containment sites and eight permanent beach placement sites to handle a projected 23 million cubic yards of dredged material over the next 50 years.
