RESERVE, LA, May 1, 2015 -- DSC Dredge, LLC, a company specializing in the engineering, automation, manufacturing, and quality of cutter suction and underwater pump mining dredges, recently announced that it has provided an 8-inch Badger Class dredge to J.E. Borries Inc., a full-service marine construction and dredging company based on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, to assist in an ongoing barrier island reconstruction project along a section of the Mississippi coast following the siltation that occurred during Hurricane Isaac in 2012.
Prior to this dredge purchase, J.E. Borries had completed all of its dredging work by mechanical means, using a long-reach excavator or a clamshell friction crane. The company was recently awarded a project by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources to complete the dredging of three bayous in and around the city of Gulfport, Miss. A change in the plans and specifications for the project necessitated the combined use of both hydraulic and mechanical dredging.
With environmental and other regulatory concerns, in addition to concerns about the very shallow waters of the area, J.E. Borries' owner, Jason Borries, conducted extensive research on hydraulic dredges. Ultimately, he chose to work with DSC based on the company's design capability, the Badger dredge's availability and affordability, and DSC's customer service and training. The delivery of the new Badger unit plays an important role in completing this project, as well as providing additional opportunities for J.E. Borries' future dredging endeavors.
Known as the "SUDS" project, the dredging of the Stark, Upper Davis and Simmons bayous includes initial mechanical excavation, with the fines being deposited into a 200-cubic-yard shallow-draft barge, which transports the material to Deere Island, a barrier island in close proximity to Gulfport. The material comprises sandy silt with minor amounts of "gumbo" clay (sticky black, gray or green-colored clay) and shells. After reaching Deere Island, the spoils are offloaded into a holding cell, deepened and turned by the Badger Dredge, which re-excavates the material and pumps it approximately 2,000 feet away. Its depth obtainable to the natural hard sand bottom in the holding cell is over 9 feet. By the end of the project, approximately 170,000 cubic yards of material will be deposited for use as fill.|