Location: Elizabeth River, Norfolk, Virginia
Client: Virginia Port Authority
EA is currently under contract to provide preliminary engineering and design support for the Norfolk Harbor Deepening Project. The Project will deepen the existing Norfolk Harbor navigation channels by 5 feet and will provide other navigational improvements to accommodate safe passage of commercial and military vessels to the Port of Virginia. During the first phase of the Project, the channel deepening and navigational improvements will result in the dredging and subsequent placement of approximately 21.5 million cubic yards (mcy) of material: approximately 8.6 mcy from the Atlantic Ocean Channel, approximately 10.6 mcy from the Thimble Shoal Channel, and approximately 2.3 mcy for the Thimble Shoal Channel widening (Meeting Area #2) east of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Subsequent phases of the project will include deepening and navigation improvements to the Norfolk Inner Harbor channels, Newport News Channel, and Anchorage F; widening of the Thimble Shoal Channel west of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (Meeting Area # 1); and deepening of the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. EA’s services and responsibilities include: dredged material management planning and engineering; coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the development of Sampling and Analysis Plans for ocean placement of dredged material; coordination with local maritime stakeholders and channel users (Virginia Pilot Association, Virginia Maritime Association, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Maritime Administration; collection of sediment cores samples at over 200 locations within the channels and adjacent widening area; physical, chemical, and ecotoxicological testing of sediments; evaluation of material placement options, including ocean placement at the Dam Neck Ocean Disposal Site and beneficial uses (i.e., beach nourishment); assessment of placement of Norfolk Inner Harbor Channel materials at the Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area; coordination with USACE, EPA, and U.S. Army Environmental Research and Development Center regarding updates to the Site Management and Monitoring Plan for the Dam Neck Ocean Disposal Site, modeling of material placement scenarios, and placement site capacity determinations; and assessment of management options and placement site design considerations for new work materials from the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River.
