The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District has just announced that the 20-inch cutterhead dredge Goetz is currently busy operating in Pool 16, just downriver of Locks and Dam 15 in Rock Island, Illinois.
As USACE reported, the Goetz is performing maintenance dredging operations to ensure the 9-foot navigation channel is ready to go after record breaking flooding swept through the area this spring.
Quarters Boat Taggatz and M/V General Warren are supporting the dredge during this channel maintenance scheme.
USACE also added that discharge pipe of the Goetz is pumping sand and silt to an authorized site on the Rock Island, Illinois, side of the Mississippi River, just downriver of Locks and Dam 15.
Background
In order to maintain the 9-foot navigation channel, maintenance dredging is performed at various locations in the reach of the Upper Mississippi River in the Rock Island District.
The affected reach of the Mississippi River extends approximately 314 river miles (RM) from Lock and Dam (L/D) 10 at Guttenberg, Iowa, to L/D 22 just downstream from Saverton, Missouri. It is divided into 12 pools by navigation dams.
Annual maintenance dredging of the Upper Mississippi River 9-foot Channel Project is generally required at 10 to 15 sites, and the volume of material dredged is approximately 400,000 cubic yards per year.
Due to the large sediment load carried by the waterway and continually changing flows, specific dredging locations and quantities to be dredged vary from year-to-year.