Congratulations to the Memphis District Below Island 9 Project Delivery Team for achieving total project completion on May 6, 2022.
The project area, located in Lake County, Tennessee, was identified as a low water problem spot by local partners in the navigation industry. This area has been dredged by the Memphis District’s Dredge Hurley in 2020 and 2021, yet the problem spot persisted.
To come up with a long term solve, a project delivery team came together to complete a dike construction project.
The contract was awarded in September 2021, but work was delayed due to extended high water in the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022. Once work began in March of 2022, the contractor placed over 300,000 tons of stone in a little over 50 days to complete the contract work on the existing dikes.
This project is highly beneficial in that it assists with maintaining a safe and reliable navigation channel. It also directly supports the Mississippi River Channel Improvement navigation mission.
Finally, it directly supports the commercial navigation industry as well, as it allows towboats to more safely move grain, petroleum, and other goods more freely and less expensively. Transporting goods on water versus air or land is the most cost effective option available. These cost savings are then passed down to the customer.
Congratulations and many thanks to everyone for making this project the amazing success that it was, including Memphis District River Engineering Team, the Construction Branch and Caruthersville Area Office, PDT Team Members, Luhr Bros. Inc., US Coast Guard, Lower Mississippi River Committee (LOMRC), and the Commercial Towboats/Navigation Industry for their role in making this project the major success that it was.