Dr. Brian Harris, a Research Civil Engineer with the Engineer Research and Development Center’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, took a temporary detail with the USACE Philadelphia District (USACE-NAP), co-leading two site visits of Beneficial Use of Dredged Material (BUDM) projects, funded by the Engineering With Nature Program and the Philadelphia District. The first project is the recently completed BUDM at Maurice River in southern New Jersey; the second, also in NJ is an upcoming BUDM at Scotch Bonnet.
Maurice River BUDM, complete in December 2023, resulted in 74000 cubic yards of dredged material from the Maurice R. federal navigation channel being used to nourish wetlands next to the Heislerville Dike, part of New Jersey’s Heislerville Wildlife Management Area. This tour consisted of members from NAP’s Regulatory and Environmental Branches, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Scotch Bonnet site work is planned to start in October 2024—Barnegat Bay Dredging, under contract with USACE-NAP, will dredge the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, and place the material on a degraded wetland area. This beneficial use will help the wetlands stave off inundation and achieve a more optimal elevation. This tour consisted of members from NAP’s Regulatory and Environmental Branches, NJDEP, USFWS, and the EPA.
