Dredging
Innovations
Group

Selected projects and publications in the Dredge Fleet Utilization area

A Framework for Assessing the Need for Seasonal Restrictions on Dredging and Disposal Operations

Lead researcher: Marin Kress

Description: This project examines the scope and scale of dredging restriction windows applied to the USACE dredging program. The project is gathering restriction window information from all USACE Districts, whether those restrictions come from other Federal agencies, other State agencies, or are self-imposed practices. For historical reference, a list of known restrictions gathered and published in 1991 is available Table 1, published as Table 1 in LaSalle et al 1991, "A Framework for Assessing the Need for Seasonal Restrictions on Dredging and Disposal Operations."

Mining archival data for dredging trends analysis

Lead researcher: Brandan Scully

Description: Over 100 years of civil works annual reports were scanned, digitized, and analyzed for dredging activity records using Optical Character Recognition and the information modal with languages rules. The result is an extensive database of historical dredging activities across the USACE area of responsibility.

Mining archival data for dredging trends analysis

Lead researcher: Brandan Scully

Description: The DQM database stores real-time operational dredge monitoring data, primarily for communication of compliance to the EPA. This project is developing an interactive analysis website allowing dredging managers to answer important operational questions and perform their own analyses.

Dredge fleet scheduling optimization

Lead researcher: Kenneth Ned Mitchell

Description: This project examined the “ripple effect” disruptions of environmental restrictions on overall dredge fleet availability, with the goals of providing roadmap for targeted R&D on particular species of concern, and an improved understanding of dredge fleet scheduling dynamics.