Rhine Update - Week 2

Hi everyone!

This is my weekly update for August 8-12.

·        Dutra is still ahead of schedule, and on Monday, they moved their dredge barge to the Phase III area in the center of the channel. There’s quite a bit of material out there, so it’s relatively easy production work without impacting any of the Phase III slips on either side.  (If any Phase III slips need more space to move while Dutra is here, please contact Dutra directly on Channel 82 and they’ll be happy to move out of the way with only 30-60 minute’s notice.  Please see the weekly figure for a progress update.

·        The reason why Dutra moved to Phase III was because: (1) we are waiting for the Phase I sediment sampling to return from the lab, and that will tell us whether the remaining material is clean or not, and (2) we are waiting for the concrete piles to “cure” at the plant.

·        So, this means that no equipment will be in the Phase 1 area for this weekend. The restaurant boating customers will have free and clear access to the restaurant slips.

·        The good news about doing some of the Phase III work now, is that for every day they dredge in Phase III, it means one less day they’ll have to dredge at the end of the project.  This therefore puts us ahead of schedule assuming everything else goes smoothly.

·        We should have the chemistry results back early next week, and it is likely (but not yet confirmed) that Dutra will need to go back up into the Phase I area mid week and clean up a few spots.  This shouldn’t take too long.  And again, Dutra will pull their barges to one side of the channel during the evenings to allow vessel passage for the restaurants.

·        Don’t forget that after the dredging is done in each particular phase, the pile driving barge will come up the channel and do its work.  However, the impact to vessel traffic during this stage will be minimal as there will be more room compared to the dredging work.

·        As you may or may not have known, the Sabot Nationals were last week in Newport Harbor, with over 100+ junior racers competing for the gold!  This required careful coordination between Dutra, Anchor QEA and the Race Committees to ensure the races were minimally impacted and everyone was safe.  Things went really well without incident – great job to all those involved!

·        Interesting fact #2:  It takes about 12 hours round trip to deliver the barge to the Port of Long Beach and back.

Once again, thank you for everyone’s patience

Chris Miller

Harbor Resources Manager

( (949) 644-3043  * cmiller@newportbeachca.gov