Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina Dredge Project

The Atlantic Highland’s Harbor Commission retained Hatch Mott MacDonald to dredge the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina, situated in the heart of the Raritan Bay. The project was conducted as a hydraulic dredge project conveying contaminated materials through the use of a hydraulic dredge and submerged discharge line to an upland Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) sited on the perimeter of Raritan Bay. The three-year project included the dredging of approximately 40,000 cys of sand and silt from the navigational channels within the marina.

The project required an intensive sampling and testing program to meet New Jersey Department of Environmental Protectin (NJDEP) permit conditions to assure that recorded contaminants which were contained within the sediment and re-suspended in the hydraulic slurry were not returned to the bay waters with the dredge slurry supernatant.

Project activities included the analysis of the bathymetric survey of the Harbor conditions and redesign of the existing CDF to meet project conditions and volumetric demands. The project also included the preparation of an NJDEP dredge sampling and test plan; sampling, testing and reporting to NJDEP; preparation and acquisition of NJDEP and USACE permit modifications; contract administration; and provision of engineering services during construction.

Contract activities also included very close integration with the NJDEP dredge program representatives and environmental specialists to resolve specific site conditions and storm and weather-related impacts on the CDF effluent quality.

Construction activities were closely coordinated with the operations of the marina as the window to conduct work was controlled closely by the NJDEP and USACE to meet the restrictions of the migratory fish breeding season as established by the National Marine Fisheries Service.