Canaveral Harbor is comprised of mixed-use facilities that include private and government agencies (USACE, Navy, Air Force, and NASA). The Canaveral Port Authority (CPA) oversees private marinas, cruise terminals, industrial docks, boat ramps, and a barge canal. There are 11 CPA-permitted dredge units (DU) and 14 USACE DUs. These areas have different uses and design requirements. As a result, dredge depths and the amount of allowable overdredge vary widely throughout the harbor. In general, the CPA DUs have 1 foot of paid allowable overdepth, and the USACE DUS have 2 feet of advanced maintenance.
Due to different designs and staged construction activities planned for multiple expansion projects throughout the harbor, numerous permits were granted at different times and have been extended or modified in the past. The management of these permits is time-consuming and inefficient as they expire at different times and cover different areas that may need to be dredged within the same time frame. The purpose of this project is twofold: (1) test and permit the CPA and USACE portions of Canaveral Harbor and (2) combine all dredging permits into one all-inclusive permit.
ANAMAR was contracted by CPA through CH2MHILL to work with USACE and EPA Region 4 to design a sampling scheme and testing regimen to accomplish the goal of streamlining all permitting activities into one comprehensive port maintenance permit. Prior to conducting field work, ANAMAR prepared a Sampling and Analysis Plan/Quality Assurance Project Plan (SAP/QAPP); consulted with the client on project design and potential costs; and reviewed and interpreted bathymetric surveys, existing permits, and dredging units.
ANAMAR’s familiarity with regulations related to dredge material disposal, project planning, and administration of sampling operations was instrumental for agency coordination and overall project design. ANAMAR collected samples for analysis of physical, chemical, and toxicological properties; performed extensive QA/QC on all data; performed modeling and statistical analysis; and produced a comprehensive report.