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  • February

    Drying material in DMCA 12A

    DMCAs – Savannah’s solution for placing dredged material

    The Corps of Engineers has been dredging sediment from the Savannah River since the 19th century. A crucial requirement for maintaining a deepened harbor is having a designated placement area for sediment. The Corps calls these designated areas “dredged material containment areas” (DMCA). And since the Corps must dredge miles of the Savannah River year after year, large containment areas are required.

  • August

    Aquatic plants into Russell Lake

    Aquatic plants give shelter to young fish

    Finding a quiet and safe place for a nursery tops the priorities for new parents, be they humans or
  • A Spider Barge (right) distributes outer-channel sediment into a barge held in place by a tug boat (left), as a Cutter Head Dredge Alaska (outside frame) pumps material through the pipe. The work is part of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. The outer channel will extend up to 20 miles into the Atlantic when complete, making the entire shipping channel 40 miles long from entry to Garden City Terminal.

    Savannah Harbor expansion boiled down: 40 miles long, 47 feet deep

    NR 17-30SAVANNAH, Ga. – It’s arguably one of the most important infrastructure projects in the

  • March

    The future of the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam

    In December, Congress passed a law which will impact the Savannah River Basin. The Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, known as the WIIN Act, became public law Dec. 16, 2016. A specific section of this law directly affects the Savannah River just below Augusta.

  • February

    Contractors on pace to finish 5 SHEP-related features in 2017

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – To say Spencer Davis has a few irons in the fire is an understatement. As the senior project manager for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, or SHEP, Davis manages the multimillion-dollar project that has eight separate environmental mitigation features outside of the actual harbor and entrance channel deepening. Now more than two years in, contractors continue to push the project forward on several fronts and are expected to wrap up four contracts this year.

  • December

    New arrivals push DO system closer to completion

    Workers delivered four Speece cones to the downriver Dissolved Oxygen Injection System site, Dec.

  • Speece cones arrive at mitigation site

    Savannah, GA -- Workers unload four Speece cones delivered Dec. 14, 2016, to an Army Corps of

  • November

    A spider barge and two scow vessels sit idle in the Savannah River’s South Channel near Fort Pulaski, Nov. 1, while the Dredge Illinois works on the other side of Cockspur Island.

    Outer harbor dredging moves closer to home

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – As part of the outer harbor dredging portion of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, the Dredge Illinois was recently repositioned off Cockspur Island in the main navigation channel of the Savannah River. Dredged material is being placed on Jones-Oysterbed Island.

  • October

    Debris is tangled around a navigation aid near Thunderbolt.

    Savannah District teams up to keep commerce flowing

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – While many Savannah residents clogged roads returning home following Hurricane Matthew last week, a small group worked to ensure a major artery into the city — the Savannah River – remained clear.

  • July

    An endangered wood stork comes in for a landing at Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina.

    Listening to the pulse of the Savannah River

    A soft breeze rustled the marsh grasses as James “Jim” Rothnie carefully placed a fresh canvas on his easel. Morning light sparkled on the waters of the ACE Basin nearby. Quietly, he crept closer to the dozen lounging birds, their elegant snow-white plumage contrasting sharply with leathery, bald heads. Wood storks were one of his favorite sightings.

  • June

    Metro Savannah-area teachers join marine archaeologists, Civil War re-enactors and other specialists to learn how to integrate science, technology, engineer and math (STEM) lessons from the recovery of the ironclad CSS Georgia into their classrooms. As part of the four-day institute delivered by Georgia Tech University in Savannah, the educators visit Old Fort Jackson, the location where the under-powered warship was anchored in the early 1860s. The visit to Old Fort Jackson allowed them to learn how evolving technology impacted the soldiers and sailors at the fort and aboard the CSS Georgia. Through hands-on demonstrations, the teachers employed several basic engineering and technology actions which can be adapted to classroom instruction. They also observed underwater archaeology techniques used to locate the CSS Georgia wreck on the bottom of the Savannah River. The teachers saw first-hand the methods used to pinpoint thousands of artifacts recovered from the scuttled vessel during 2015. Leading marine archaeologist Stephen James demonstrated the sophisticated equipment used to guide divers through the zero-visibility waters of the Savannah River. The Teachers’ Institute ran from May 31 through June 3, 2016, and was funded through the community involvement portion of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP). The SHEP will deepen the Savannah harbor from 42 feet to 47 feet.

    Educators turn lessons learned into lesson plans

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – The school year continued for 15 educators who returned to the classroom to unearth ways to bring curriculum to life during the CSS Georgia Teacher’s Institute held May 31 – June 3 at Georgia Tech Savannah.

  • May

    Laying the pre-foundation

    SAVANNAH, Ga. — Construction continued on the dissolved oxygen injection system at two sites along the Savannah River last week. This time-lapse video shows workers installing a cofferdam as part of what will become the foundation for a series of Speece cones.

  • March

    A backhoe removes trees and debris from one of two sites that will house the dissolved oxygen system on the Savannah River.

    Workers prepare site for dissolved oxygen system

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Just like a nurse who swabs an arm before injecting vaccine into a patient, workers began clearing debris and underbrush from land set to house dissolved oxygen injection equipment for the Savannah River.

  • November

    A row of 6.4-inch Brooke shells wait in buckets filled with seawater prior to being inerted, Nov. 4. Technicians inerted 170 Brooke shells and Dahlgren projectiles in two months.

    CSS Georgia’s parting shot

    SAVANNAH, Ga. — Ben Redmond and Matt Christiansen are breathing a little easier now that the most dangerous part of their job is over. The pair, along with a handful of engineers and technicians, spent the last two months inerting 170 Dahlgren and 6.4-inch Brooke projectiles that Navy divers recovered from the CSS Georgia this summer.

  • August

    The CSS Georgia continues to surprise archaeologists. Case in point, this 9,000-pound Dahlgren rifled cannon that archaeologists thought was a different type of cannon before raising it to the surface July 21.

    A wreck reborn: Recovering the Civil War ironclad CSS Georgia from the Savannah River

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – As cities along the East Coast scramble to bolster their infrastructure and employ massive dredges to deepen their harbors, Savannah began its harbor expansion with a team of 10 people who used wire baskets to raise a handful of objects at a time.

  • July

    Ellie Covington, a biologist with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District, and Sandy Beasley, a volunteer with U.S. Fish & Wildlife, count birds at Tybee Island, June 30. Savannah District biologists like Covington visit the island three times a month to monitor the number of birds following Tybee Island’s beach renournishment in December 2014.

    Savannah River islands attract a different type of tourist

    SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Threatened by development and predators from every side, local birds here are finding safe, pristine habitats in an unlikely place: at the bottom of the Savannah River.

  • June

    Parker Brooks, a conservator and graduate student from Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Laboratory, demonstrates the function of an elevator screw prior to a free lecture on the CSS Georgia at the Savannah History Museum, June 2.

    As archaeologists recover artifacts, more questions rise to the surface

    SAVANNAH, Ga. — She has been stripped by salvage rigs, battered by dredges and had her hull shredded by teredo worms, yet the tattered remnants of the CSS Georgia that were all but forgotten until the 1960s continue to intrigue archaeologists and the community here.

  • January

    Recovery of CSS Georgia remains in progress after 150 years in Savannah River

    Recovering the CSS Georgia ironclad scuttled on the Savannah River floor marks the beginning of the construction phase of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

  • SHEP and the Savannah River – a Wrap-up

    Environmental stewardship remains a top focus of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. Deepening the Savannah harbor will impact the ecosystem of the estuary and conditions in the river all the way to the base of the Thurmond Dam north of Augusta, Georgia.

  • December

    Private reservoirs support Corps public ones

    Editor’s note: This installment of a continuing series of articles explaining the operations of the Savannah River basin, looks at the support upstream, privately-owned reservoirs contribute to keeping the basin in balance. Savannah District officials often get asked why Lake Keowee, owned by Duke Energy, seems to remain full while the Corps’ reservoirs, particularly Hartwell Lake seems to drop. Read below on how the far-upper basin supports the central basin.