[Louisianadelegation] LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER (LMR) DREDGING UPDATE 51525

Thu May 15 16:17:28 CDT 2025

Members,

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began Fiscal Year 2025 (FY 25) channel maintenance dredging on the Mississippi River Ship Channel with the industry hopper dredge GLENN EDWARDS (Manson Construction) on March 2, 2025. The most recent crest on the Mississippi River at the Carrollton Gage was recorded at 16.67 feet on May 1, 2025 at 1800 hours. River stages continue to recede but are expected to remain above 10 feet into June (2025).

INDUSTRY HOPPER DREDGE(S) WORKING in the area of SOUTHWEST PASS (SWP):

NEWPORT: The NEWPORT (Manson Construction) is working on assignment upriver from the Venice Jump between Mile 13.0 Above Head of Passes (AHP) to Mile 12.0 AHP. The NEWPORT is working on the second FY 25 Early Award hopper contract (Gulf Coast Regional Hopper Contract Early Award #2-2024).

DODGE ISLAND: The DODGE ISLAND (Great Lakes Dredge & Dock) is working on assignment at the Head of Passes (Mile 0) to Mile 1.0 Below Head of Passes (BHP). The hopper dredge commenced dredging operations in SWP on April 7, 2025.

GLENN EDWARDS: The hopper dredge GLENN EDWARDS is dredging on assignment from Mile 14.6 BHP to Mile 16.0 BHP. The GLENN EDWARDS is working under Southwest Pass Hopper Early Award #1-2024, the first of the two Early Award hopper dredge contracts for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY 25). The Bar Pilots adjusted their flocculation based high tide transit restrictions for inbound vessels with drafts of 38 feet or greater on May 7, 2025. The official Notice is attached. The flocculation event is reported to be improving some as is typical as river stages decrease, but the transit restriction/recommendation remains in effect.

GOVERNMENT HOPPER DREDGE(S) WORKING IN SOUTHWEST PASS (SWP):

WHEELER: The USACE hopper dredge WHEELER continues dredging in the New Orleans Harbor under Readiness Exercise #4-2025. The WHEELER is dredging the 50-foot access channel for the Nashville Avenue Wharf and is expected to depart in June for scheduled maintenance and repairs.

CUTTERHEAD DREDGE(S) WORKING IN THE NEW ORLEANS HARBOR:

The USACE advertised a bid opening for a cutterhead dredge to work on channel maintenance in the New Orleans Harbor today. The apparent low bidder was Weeks Marine, additional details will be included in the next update.

CUTTERHEAD DREDGE(S) WORKING IN SOUTHWEST PASS (SWP):

R.S. WEEKS: The R.S. WEEKS (Weeks Marine) is currently dredging at Mile 12.75 BHP and is concentrating on the heaviest shoaling between Mile 12 BHP to Mile 13.5 BHP. The cutterhead will work this reach first and then focus on the full assignment starting at Mile 9.0 BHP and extending to Mile 15 BHP on the western side of the Channel. All material removed will be beneficially used to create marsh along the bank line in SWP. The cutterhead began dredging in SWP on May 3, 2025.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STAGES AND FORECAST UPDATES:

The Carrollton Gage (New Orleans) reading at 1500 hours today was 14.09 feet, with a 24-hour change of - 0.16 feet. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service Extended Streamflow Predictions (28-Day Forecast) for the Carrollton Gage issued today forecasts that stages will continue a slow extended fall to 11.0 feet on June 3 (2025).

The Baton Rouge Gage reading at 1200 hours today was 40.98 feet, with a 24-hour change of - 0.55 feet. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service Extended Streamflow Predictions (28-Day Forecast) for the Baton Rouge Gage issued today forecasts that stages will continue a slow fall to 27.9 feet on June 12 (2025).
The NWS 28-Day long-range forecasts only include precipitation expected to fall in the next 48-hours.

The 168-hour (7 Days) Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF) precipitation map below is reproduced from the National Weather Service.

“Forecasters at the WPC and its predecessor organizations have been making Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts since 1960. Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts, or QPFs, depict the amount of liquid precipitation expected to fall in a defined period of time. In the case of snow or ice, QPF represents the amount of liquid that will be measured when the precipitation is melted. Precipitation amounts can vary significantly over short distances, especially when thunderstorms occur, and for this reason QPFs issued by the WPC are defined as the expected "areal average" (on a 20 x 20 km grid) in inches.”

168-HOUR QPF FORECAST:

[cid:image001.gif at 01DBC5B4.D8243BC0]

*The 168-hour QPF predicts heavy precipitation across a large portion of the central United States along the Mississippi and Ohio River Basins.

“The graph below is reproduced from NOAA’s National Weather Service website and represents an experimental product to account for the complexity of accurately predicting long-range precipitation.  These forecast projects stage levels based on expected precipitation for 2 days (top) and 16 days (bottom) and was developed within the North American Ensemble Forecast System (NAEFS) computer model and highlights Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPF).  Along with the forecasts, a shaded area is also provided to indicate uncertainty for the forecast each day in the future. These plots are experimental and not an official forecast product.”

NEW ORLEANS QPF:

[NORL1_67_28d_forecast_error_plot.png]

The graph below represents the Year-to-Date (2025) plotted river stages for the Carrollton Gage from January 1 to May 15 (2025):

[Chart titled, Mississippi River at New Orleans (Carrollton) (01300) From 01/01/2025 To 05/15/2025]

The following plot shows the river stages on the Carrollton Gage from January 1, 2020 to May 15, 2025:

[Chart titled, Mississippi River at New Orleans (Carrollton) (01300) From 01/01/2020 To 05/15/2025]

Note the Carrollton Gage had not been over 15 feet since 2021 or higher than 16 feet since 2020 the last time the Bonnet Carré Spillway was operated.

Please see the attachments to support the Dredge Update.

With You,
Sean
Sean M. Duffy, Sr.
Executive Director

Standing By Channel: (504) 338-3165

Big River Coalition
http://bigrivercoalition.org<http://bigrivercoalition.org/>

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