TAMPA, Fla.—ERDC’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL) and Environmental Laboratory (EL), in a recent collaborative initiative with researchers from the University of South Florida, conducted a field study on the turbidity, dispersion, and sedimentologic characteristics of dredge and nearshore placement plumes at the mouth of Tampa Bay.
The study’s objective was to evaluate the loss of fine sediments from the source within the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to the sink, a nearshore placement area offshore of Egmont Key, and to determine the temporal and spatial fingerprint of dredging and placement plumes with respect to cultural and ecological resources such as submerged aquatic vegetation.
Study findings will assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Jacksonville District in future permitting efforts utilizing the Corps’ new hopper dredge, the Murden, for nearshore placement of sediments with higher concentrations of fine material.
This study was supported by the Coastal Inlets Research, Dredging Operations and Environmental Research, and Regional Sediment Management programs.
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