Contractors with De Moya/Continental Joint Venture have completed 32 percent of a Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) feature to remove the 1970s-era tide gate structure, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, said in its latest update.
In addition to removing the tide gate structure, contractors will return the Back River to its original width, USACE added.
To accomplish this, excavators and dump trucks collect and position material near the river’s edge, where a hydraulic cutterhead dredge pumps it across the river into a designated Dredged Material Containment Area.
This feature, expected to be completed by December 2017, is part of the flow re-routing activities included in the SHEP mitigation plan in order to protect freshwater wetlands and the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.
USACE has just released this very interesting video update from the project, named ‘Sediment Basin Tide Gate Removal’.