Corps Developing Wildlife Habitat to Solve Disposal Problems

by L. Jean Hunt, Wildlife Biologist; Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Miss.,


Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1978, Vol. 48, Issue 9, Pg. 101-106


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

The large volume of sediments dredged each year by the Corps of Engineers from navigable waterways can be considered a resource instead of a waste product, and used as a substrate for upland, wetland, or aquatic habitat development. There are numerous instances in which deposits of dredged material have naturally become beneficial for wildlife. Planned habitat development involves the basic steps of physical and chemical characterization of the sediments to be dredged; site selection; site design; construction, dredging, and disposal; and site treatment for vegetation establishment. No summary of cost data is available, but scattered information and ranges are given. Restrictions on habitat development may be logistical, physical/chemical/biological, social/political/legal, or economic in nature. A wetland habitat development site has been built by the Corps of Engineers in the James River, Virginia, and at other locations.

Subject Headings: Construction sites | Waste sites | Site investigation | Dredging | Wildlife | Wetlands (fresh water) | Sediment

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