Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area - Potential Impacts On Future Deposits Due To Limited Capacity

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District
Published Nov. 5, 2021

 

CENAO-WRO November 5, 2021

 

CRANEY ISLAND DREDGED MATERIAL MANAGEMENT AREA -

POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON FUTURE DEPOSITS DUE TO LIMITED CAPACITY

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District’s Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area (CIDMMA) provides a cost-effective placement option for suitable navigation-related dredged material from the Norfolk Harbor and adjacent waterways. Due to these cost advantages, many in the dredging industry have come to regularly utilize the CIDMMA for the placement of dredged material. This Notice to Navigation Interests is targeted at dredging industry providers to inform their planning options for future dredging projects.

 

The CIDMMA is currently experiencing a shortfall of suitable dike-raising material to construct required capacity to accommodate dredged material volumes from the deepening of the Norfolk Harbor, dredging for maintenance of federal navigation channels, and other planned future inflows for navigation-related dredging. In recent years, annual inflows accepted at CIDMMA have not produced the quantity of suitable material, primarily sandy sediments, needed to support dike-raising efforts. This trend is expected to continue.

 

Due to this limited capacity and high demand for dredged material placement, the Norfolk District anticipates that acceptance of future deposits of dredged material into the CIDMMA, including deposits into the Rehandling Basin, will need to be deferred indefinitely until completion of the Norfolk Harbor Navigation Improvements Project, Inner Harbor Channels and Anchorage F, and sufficient capacity is constructed to resume normal operations and dredged material inflows. Requests for acceptance of dredged material will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Those wishing to deposit dredged material at CIDMMA are urged to begin coordination with the Norfolk District well in advance of planned dredging to determine likely timeframes for future acceptance of material. In addition, potential users are urged to consider alternative placement options for their projects in the event that CIDMMA capacity is unavailable when needed. The following minimum advance notices for deposits will be required, although deferrals of acceptance of deposits are expected to be much longer than these timeframes in many cases:

 

• 60 days for projects under 100,000 cubic yards

• 1 year for projects greater than or equal to 100,000 and less than 500,000 cubic yards

• 2 years for projects greater than or equal to 500,000 cubic yards

 

All inquiries pertaining to the use of the CIDMMA should be directed to Mr. Nik Hallberg, Chief of the Operations Support Section within the Norfolk District Operations Branch, at niklas.u.hallberg@usace.army.mil, or by phone at (757) 201-7017. All inquiries pertaining to Corps of Engineers regulatory permits for dredging and associated placement of dredged material should be directed to the Norfolk District Regulatory Branch project manager listed on the permit or, if no permit has been obtained, to the Regulator of the Day at cenao.reg_rod@usace.army.mil or at (757) 201-7652.