Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Here is my Rhine Channel weekly update for September 19 – 23.

Hi everyone,

Here is my Rhine Channel weekly update for September 19 – 23.

·        Please see the attached figure that shows the progress to date. 

·        Dredging activities are still proceeding as planned.  You’ll notice the blue “dredging complete” and the red “active dredging zone” areas have slightly enlarged, therefore marking steady progress.

·        This last week, Dutra had to retrace their footsteps and dig a little deeper in the wide channel in Phase II.  This was because the sediment chemistry told us that their initial targeted depth did not take us down to “clean” material, so another pass was necessary. As of Friday afternoon, Dutra had finished this second pass so we’ll go back and re-test to confirm that we’ve hit clean material.

·        Phase II pile driving activities are also nearly complete with just a little more work on the Lido Peninsula side of the larger channel.  The pile work is going smoothly with very little complications.

·        Phase III dredging begins on Tuesday, September 27 at 7:00 AM.  The Phase III marinas must have their vessels removed by then, and there will not be a grace period like in Phase I.  The good news is that Phase III is anticipated to be much shorter than originally planned because of Dutra’s efficiency with the project.  I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted, but I’m hopeful Phase III will last just a few short weeks.

·         As you can probably tell today, there is no work planned for this weekend, so we all get to enjoy a couple days off.

·        On Monday, the pile driving barge will be back at the Rhine Wharf to unload the old piles, then load up the last batch of Phase II piles. 

·        Interesting fact No. 8:  The pile driving barge has 2 large “spuds” that are dropped into the sediment to keep the barge steady when it’s busy working.  These spuds are about 80’ long, therefore enabling the barge to spud down in channels that are 60’ deep – much deeper than the Rhine Channel!

Thanks everyone! 

Chris Miller
Harbor Resources Manager
(949) 644-3043  * cmiller@newportbeachca.gov

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