The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, yesterday released this very interesting video about the Buffalo Harbor dredging project. In the video, Andrew Kist, student engineer and quality assurance representative, introduces his view of the dredging works.
In fact, USACE Buffalo District began operations and maintenance (O&M) dredging on September 8.
The work, being completed by Ryba Marine Construction from Cheboygan, Michigan, includes standard operation and maintenance dredging of 114,000 cubic yards of material.
Also, the project includes 120,000 cubic yards of strategic navigation dredging funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
It will take approximately 1.5 months to complete the work.
Equally important, all dredging will be performed within the federal navigation channel.
Standard O&M dredging will be performed between the river mouth and station 132+00 (about one mile upstream of the Ohio Street bridge).
An additional area will be dredged upstream of the South Park bridge, which will have the added benefit of alleviating ice jams in the area.
Also, strategic navigation dredging will target residual contamination in five specific areas throughout the river.
Furthermore, the dredged material was beneficially used for ecosystem restoration at nearby Unity Island.