Florida Inland Navigation District: Permitting and Construction of the

1. Florida Inland Navigation District: Permitting and Construction of the M-5 Island Offloading & Crossroads Maintenance Dredging and the NA-1 Upland DMMA Facility Authored by Lori Brownell, P.E. and John Adams, P.E. Presented by Jim Marino, P.E., D.CE October 2012

2. PresentationOverview • Long-Range Planning Efforts for Florida • General Dredged Material Management Plan • Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway • Florida’s Okeechobee Waterway • Permitting Challenges in Florida • M-5 Island Offloading and Crossroads Maintenance Dredging • NA-1 Dredged Material Management Area Construction

3. Long-Range Planning Efforts for Florida • Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) established in 1927 • USACE and State of Florida partnership • Shifts in perception occurred in mid-1980s regarding dredging/dredged material management • Taylor Engineering became the District Engineer in 1986 • Dredged Material Management Plan development guided by • Technical advisory committee • Citizens’ advisory committee • 12 county-specific plans

4. DMMP Permitting Challenges in Florida • DMMP Purpose: Assist the USACE with dredging operations in a manner dictated by economic and engineering considerations, and environmental and socioeconomic constraints • Economic and engineering considerations • Dredged Material Placement Areas (DMMAs) • Material locations (shoals) • Material volumes (cubic yards [cy]) • Material types (sand, clay, silt) • Environmental and socioeconomic constraints • Natural resources • Threatened and endangered species • Cultural resources • Adjacent land use and zoning restrictions

5. Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway • 404 channel miles within two federally-authorized navigation projects • Constructed to present depths 1941 – 1961 • Environmentally diverse • Multibillion-dollar economic impact • 16 tidal entrances • 5 deep-water ports • 60 placement sites • 8 beach • 52 confined upland placement sites • 31 properties acquired • 18 operational • 1 final design/permitting • 2 under construction

6. Florida’s Okeechobee Waterway • Expanding FIND’s DMMP • 1996 and 2005 legislation added 98 channel miles (4 segments) • FIND total – 502 channel miles • Fundamental differences between ICWW and OWW • Initially authorized and constructed for flood control/water distribution • No history of channel maintenance • Variation in lake levels • Active phosphorus load reduction effort

7. M-5 Island Offloading & Crossroads Maintenance Dredging • Economic and engineering considerations • Island dredge material management area • Diverse and challenging wind and wave conditions • Tight beach compliance criteria • Environmental and socioeconomic constraints • Adjacent aquatic water preserve • Active least tern and sea turtle nesting areas • Offshore hardbottom • Multiagency coordination – County, FDEP, USACE, NMFS, National Wildlife Refuge

8. Project Overview • Repeat Taylor Engineering project • 1997 = 625,000 cy at M-SLI A and M-SLI B • ICWW pipeline corridor • Fundamental differences • 1997 = DMMA construction • 2012 = 350,000 cy between R59 and R80 • Increased environmental scrutiny • Beach pipeline corridor • Crossroads Maintenance Dredging • ICWW and OWW intersection • 2 – 3 year dredging cycle • 50,000 – 60,000 CY/dredging cycle • M-5 DMMA Placement

9. M-5 DMMA • M-5 capacity: 290,000 cy • Intermodal area challenges • Federal channel • Wind and wave forces • Gabions • Adequate navigation depth • Seagrass • Mangroves

10. Beach Design • Pipeline route • Martin County easement • Beach design challenges • St. Lucie Inlet State Park • Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge • St. Lucie Aquatic Preserve OFW • Vicinity of hardbottom • Sea turtles

11. NA-1 Dredged Material Management Area • Economic and engineering considerations • Variable subsurface soil conditions • Installation of wick drains • Rigorous seepage and slope stability analyses • Off-site material required for construction • Environmental and socioeconomic constraints • Dense natural maritime hammock community • Healthy saltmarsh and freshwater wetland communities • Active planning coordination with USFWS, FFWCC, adjacent neighbors (Amelia Island Plantation and Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport)

12. Project Overview

13. NA-1 Unique Site Challenges • Geotechnical conditions • ICWW dredge material placed on the eastern side of the island between 1943 and 1960 • Western soils comprise medium to dense clean silty sand (3 – 9 feet below ground surface) underlain by 5 – 10 feet of very soft clayey sand 1943 Aerial Photograph • Environmental site conditions • Narrow band of freshwater wetlands located between the eastern and western portion of the island lobes • Centrally located eagle’s nest 1960 Aerial Photograph

14. Summary of Settlement Analysis Results

15. DMMA Cross Sections Western DMMA Cross Section Eastern DMMA Cross Section

16. Summary • Long-Range Planning Efforts for Florida • DMMP for ICWW and OWW ongoing since 1986 and 1996 • Permitting and construction phases remaining • Florida Permitting Improvements • Advance coordination • Active communication • Government-driven streamlined process • Contact Information • Jim Marino (Jmarino@taylorengineering.com) • Lori Brownell (Lbrownell@taylorengineering.com) • John Adams (Jadams@taylorengineering.com)