PHOTO: Dredging the Los Angeles River Estuary

Curtin Maritime Corp. of Long Beach, California, has been busy lately with the dredging of the Los Angeles River Estuary.

Last Saturday, May 15, the company showed a photo of the DB Ironbound with Seana C and dump scow Arrow PT digging the Los Angeles River Estuary for the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The DB Ironbound is a multi-functional ABS barge paired with the Lima 2400B 150-ton crawler crane. Designed with a four-point anchor system and four internal spud wells. The Ironbound is equipped with state-of-the-art positioning technology, capable of accuracy within two centimeters.

The purpose of this project is to perform maintenance dredging to provide for the need of continued safe and reliable commercial and recreational navigation.

Over time, shoaling of the federal Los Angeles River Estuary results in reduced depths that limit navigation, especially for larger commercial vessels.

The estuary has been silted in with sediments delivered from the Los Angeles River Watershed since the creation of the Los Angeles River Flood Control Channel.

The flood control channel was constructed between 1919 and 1923. Soon after the construction of the flood control channel, the City of Long Beach constructed recreational small-craft facilities and ferry landings along the banks of the estuary.

Persistent shoaling creates a navigation hazard for recreational and commercial vessels using facilities along the estuary.

To remain a safe and navigable channel, the Los Angeles River Estuary must maintain accessibility of its navigation channels for a variety of vessels, especially larger commercial vessels.

Dredging of the LARE has been conducted under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Operations and Maintenance (O&M) program since 1980.