Phase 1 — Remove approximately material from bank to bank from the Amtrak bridge under the Providence Place Mall to the Crawford Street Bridge piers

Phase 2 — Maintenance dredging of the upper Providence River

Trash Trailer — Trash and debris collected from the dredging of Waterplace Park and adjacent section of the river into a traveling educational art installation

The last significant dredging of the Providence River Shipping Channel was completed in 1971 by the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the federal agency responsible for its construction and maintenance. Since that time, a significant reduction in channel water depth and channel width occurred, a result of sedimentation in the channel, which prompted the US Coast Guard to restrict large vessel traffic to one-way passage for safety. In 1996 the CRMC was tasked with the responsibility on behalf of the state to coordinate the USACE's efforts to maintain this channel's authorized navigable depths and by 2003 the shipping channel was dredged back to its authorized depths and widths.

Army Corps of Engineers New England District

The proposed work includes maintenance dredging of the 15-foot-deep entrance channel into the harbor, as well as the eastern and western branch channels and the channel leading into Point Judith Pond. The channel has not been dredged since its construction in 1977. Natural shoaling has reduced the channels’ depth over the years, making navigation hazardous during low tides. Approximately 90,000 cubic yards of sand will be removed from about 25 acres of the area, and will restore the entrance channel and other channels to original depths and dimensions, according to the USACE. The dredged material will be used to help replenish a near-shore sandbar off Matunuck Beach in South Kingstown. The dredging is scheduled to begin in December 2006 and must be completed by March 2007 at the close of the dredging window.

Army Corps of Engineers Fact Sheet (PDF)

Narrative Report, Sachuest Point Landfill Remediation and Saltmarsh Restoration Project (PDF)

• The CRMC is required, as a permit condition, to monitor the CAD cells annually. CRMC staff uses the R/V Jack Reed to survey them once a year and also monitor the placement of material into the cells and move the dump locations so they are filled evenly (weekly trips during the dredge season);
• The CRMC also monitors the adjacent channel to ensure that if material is deposited there mistakenly that it is discovered quickly and removed before a ship strike;
• The CRMC provides survey services for municipalities to support their dredging efforts – in particular, North Kingstown, Cranston and Barrington – and well as RIDEM and Save the Bay;
• The CRMC uses this vessel for harbor management projects. The advanced on-board GPS can determine encroachments in real time as well as accurately determine the best limits for reauthorization requests;
• The CRMC provides support for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for reconnaissance studies and access to breakwaters, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard;
• The CRMC also rescued the Army Corps’ buoys 20 miles offshore when no other vessel was available, and is available for other similar emergency situations;
• The CRMC uses the GPS to inspect all aquaculture sites for compliance twice annually; and
• The CRMC works with the University of Rhode Island to complete bottom habitat mapping, as well as mapping the sub-bottom geology regularly (15 trips a year). These maps help us for near shore dredge material placement.

The CRMC is also able to monitor ongoing projects like the submarine disposal, federal dredging and disposal projects, and ensure compliance of other projects/operations by making weekly site visits and day trips. As an example, the CRMC will be out working with the City of East Providence to provide survey services to re-install the day markers that were removed as part of the Bullocks Cove dredging, saving the city approximately $5,000.