Deer River Exemplifies the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material
Aerial photo of the Deer River Project located near the Mobile Harbor in Mobile Alabama, August 3, 2024. The Deer River Project is one of four beneficial use projects where USACE will use dredged material from the Mobile Harbor Project. The four beneficial use projects will beneficially use more than 8 million cubic yards of material. (Courtesy photo)
By Chuck Walker
Published Aug. 21, 2024
MOBILE, Ala. – One of the challenges of the Mobile Harbor Project, which calls for deepening and widening the harbor, is what to do with the dredged material produced.
In response to that challenge, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District developed four Beneficial Use Areas: the Dauphin Island Causeway, Relic Shell Mined, Sand Island, and Deer River.
The Deer River Project is a shoreline stabilization and protection project constructed by the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program. The MBNEP constructed a containment area in front of a degraded marsh.
The Mobile District partnered with MBNEP to provide dredged material for the containment area, which benefited both parties.
“The Mobile District is providing the material at a cost savings for the Deer River Project,” said Mary Sullivan, USACE Mobile District Project Manager for Civil Works. “The dredged material from the Mobile Harbor Deepening and Widening Project is a beneficial use for the channel.”
The MBNEP funding and construction of the project provided the Mobile District with an additional opportunity to use dredged material from the Mobile Harbor Project in a beneficial way.
Roberta Swann, MBNEP director, said the Deer River Project and its partnership with USACE is successful because of its shared commitment to science engineering to improve how our coast is managed continuously.
“In December 2023, USACE, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the MBNEP, and the Alabama State Port Authority entered into an agreement to utilize dredged material from the Mobile Harbor Deepening Project for placement at the Deer River Coastal Marsh Stabilization and Restoration Project,” said Swann. “The Deer River Project represents a strategic local, state, and federal collaboration to protect valuable salt marshes, address shoreline recession and loss of habitat from erosional forces.”
The Deer River shoreline has suffered from the impacts of storm surges, winds, and wakes over the past several decades.
USACE will place up to 220,000 cubic yards of dredged material to create 19 acres of new marsh and shoreline along the western shore of Mobile Bay, protecting an existing 275-acre tidal marsh complex.
The four Beneficial Use Projects, Deer River being one, will beneficially use more than 8 million cubic yards of dredged material.
Incorporating beneficial use makes ecological sense, and the cost savings to the project also added substantial financial value.
“The Deer River Project is ready to receive the material from the Mobile Harbor Deepening Project,” said Sullivan. “The USACE’s contract is scheduled to place material at the site in Fall 2024. Construction will be substantially complete once the material is placed. The MBNEP will conclude construction by creating habitats and planting native species.”
Source: USACE, Mobile District
