Thalweg Disposal: Demonstration of an Alternative

by Richard M. Baker, US Army Corps of Engineers, Rock, Island, IL, USA,
Donald L. McCown, US Army Corps of Engineers, Rock, Island, IL, USA,
Robert A. Paddock, US Army Corps of Engineers, Rock, Island, IL, USA,
John D. Ditmars, US Army Corps of Engineers, Rock, Island, IL, USA,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Dredging and Dredged Material Disposal

Abstract:

Disposal of dredged material in the main channel, or thalweg, is an alternative disposal option for maintenance dredging. The material dredged from the Upper Mississippi River is clean sand and water quality is not a primary concern with regard to thalweg disposal. Modifications of channel morphology and, more importantly, of riverine habitats due to thalweg disposal are the major environmental issues raised. The Rock Island District, Corps of Engineers, is addressing these issues by means of thalweg disposal experiments at three sites on the Upper Mississippi River. In these experiments, dredged sand has been tagged with dyed sand prior to disposal in the thalweg. Monitoring of dyed sand in the bottom sediments in and downstream of the disposal areas at two sites (for periods of 1 and 2 years) has indicated that the dredged sand remains in the thalweg without apparent modification of channel border habitats.

Subject Headings: Dredged materials | Channels (waterway) | Sandy soils | Water quality | Sand (material) | Sand (hydraulic) | Waste sites | Mississippi River

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