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“The project is designed to supply the current Mat Sinking Unit with Articulated Concrete Mattress (ACM) to use for revetment to maintain a safe and reliable navigation channel for commercial towboats in the Mississippi River,” Project Manager Zach Cook said. “If the project were not completed, there could be failures or cutoffs on the Mississippi River banks.”
Cook is describing the recently completed project named “Richardson Landing Articulated Concrete Mattress Casting – Mississippi River Channel Improvement Project” located at Richardson Landing, near Drummonds, Tennessee, Mississippi River Mile 769.
The project started with casting of concrete mattress in April of 2021. Casting officially completed in June of this year with the supply contract costing a total of about $14.9 million in federal funding.
As Cook said, this project work was needed to protect riverbanks from erosion and other types of bank failure; it does this by assisting the Regional Channel Improvement revetment mission and supplying articulated concrete mattress.
“The contractor cast a total of 94,640 squares of articulated concrete mattress,” Cook said. “Currently, the region has a low inventory of articulated concrete mattress, and completing this contract within this period of performance allows the region to have the squares required for the current revetment season.”
With the revetment season officially beginning mid-June of this year, Cook said the quality of the squares produced by this contract have been very important as well.
“Some of these squares cast will likely be used on Armor 1 (the new Mat Sinking Unit), so it is imperative that all squares meet the contract specifications,” Cook added.
With the Mat Sinking Unit stocked with ACM and ready to go, the district can continue to provide riverbank protection along with sound, navigable waters for the industries transporting goods up and down the river.
“The project assists with providing a safe and reliable navigation channel to move grain, petroleum, and other goods in a less expensive manner than by rail or truck,” Cook said. “This in turn helps keep the cost of these products lower for consumers.”
Congratulations and many thanks to all those involved in making this project the success that it was, including Quality Control Representative Tayne Tubberville, Administrative Contracting Officer Loy Hamilton, , Contracting Officer’s Representative Bodie Richardson, River Engineering Team Leader Preston Snyder, Technical Lead Engineer Cole Stonebrook, Contract Specialist Kirk Middleton, Regional Channel Improvement Coordinator Jake Storz, Project Manager Zach Cook, Mississippi Limestone Corporation President Clint Davis, Project Superintendent Philip Clegg.
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