Packery.Com - Information source for the proposed Packery Channel Project...
rain events and the formation of a hard crust when dried. Additionally, dredged material
placement handling procedures detailing methods to reduce the amount of clay and fines
on the finished beach should be added to the specifications.Erosion control is mentioned for the PAs, but it is not defined. Will vegetation be
planted? If feasible, native vegetation plantings is the preferred option.1.2.4 Sand Bypassing System
In 1997, the GLO commissioned a peer review panel of three qualified coastal
engineers - Robert Dean, Miles Hayes, and Jacobus van de Kreeke - to review two
Conrad Blucher Institute reports relating to the feasibility of opening and stabilizing
Packery Channel. The resulting report, Packery Channel Opening; Peer Review Panel
Assessment, June 13, 1997 (Peer Review Assessment), is a valuable technical evaluation
of longshore sediment transport, entrance stability against shoaling, dredging
requirements, jetty length, effects on the adjacent shorelines, and water response inside
Corpus Christi Bay. Although it included much pertinent and unique information
regarding the proposed project's environmental effects, the Peer Review Assessment wa
not referenced or utilized in the DEIS.Regarding the sand bypassing, the Peer Review Assessment states:
"A complete channel design should include an appropriate sand
management program which has as a component a monitoring program
and sand bypassing response element with established thresholds or
'triggers' which can be used subsequently to determine when sand
transfer is required, the amounts and the removal and placement
locations for the sand...It is clear that the bypassing requirements must
be based on a monitoring program which will establish the timing,
frequency and locations of sand removal and placement during the
bypassing operations. Without the availability of such a detailed plan, a
sediment management program is incomplete.. .Although the plans to
carry out appropriate sand management programs can be sincere and
well intentioned, the track record in the U.S. of various entities
maintaining channels and the stability of the adjacent shorelines is not
reassuring and usually results in downdrin erosion. The entity
responsible for maintaining the channel needs to provide solid financial
assurance that an appropriate sand management program will be carried
out in perpetuity or as long as the jetties are in place."Other than the design for a bypassing conduit under the proposed channel, little or no
discussion has been held regarding the design of a sand bypassing system, littoral
monitoring program, or threshold levels to trigger bypassing. Also, cost estimates for th(
construction and operation of a sand bypassing system have not been provided for the
proposed project. The 100% design for the proposed project does present information
regarding a sand bypassing system for a similar project, Indian River Inlet, Delaware, in
which the initial bypassing system construction costs were $1.7 million with annual
Copyright 2001 ©
Packery.Com all rights reserved
No tax dollars or political funds have been used to create or maintain
this web site. webmaster