No abstract

No abstract

'%his book was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States a v e m m e n t Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, m l e s any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process dhdosed, or represents that its use wuld no1 ifriitgt privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specifii commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Governmerit ar any aEBncy thereof. The dews and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect thow of the United States Government or any agency thereof." This report has been reproduced directly from the best available copy.

Government or any agency thereof. '"This boak was prepared aa an account of work Spo~llrond by an agency of the United States Government Neither the Unitad States Government nor any agency thenof, nor uty of thsir employees, makes ony warranty, expns8 or implied, or aununcr any lcgat LWity or responsibility for the accuracy, complbtentsa, or usefulnwr of my Infomitfk~n, rgpurtue, product, or procew disclosed, or represents that its w would not i n f w @vat& o~n d rwtn Reference herein to any specific oommerdaI product, procas~ or a m b e by M e name, tademark, rnmiaotlusr, or oth&rwls, do& Mt oanbirnre us Lnply itr endorsement, recommendation. or favor& by the United SCItss Governmat or my agency theof, The and opWons of authors expmsaed hersin do not ncwmdy m e or reflect thoae of the United Statss Cowrnmcnt or my agemy thereof." This report has been reproduced &redly from the best available copy.

The physical characteristics of estuarine sediments provide useful information about sediment sources, the nature of bottom surface stresses and sediment transport mechanisms. Changes in sediment composition and state are also useful indicators for estimating the effects of unnatural stresses on dependent chemical and biological activities. In this study, the changes in several sediment properties have been monitored for an isolated estuarine dredging project. The effect of estuarine hopper dredge activities has been evaluated for an Army Corps of Engineers project at Coos Bay, Oregon. The project included suction head dredging at a shoal area within the navigation channel and in bay spoiling at a deep section of channel one mile downstream from the dredge site. Core samples were taken five days before dredging and two, thirteen and seventy days after dredging at the dredge and spoil sites. Subsequent laboratory analysis of the core samples revealed that dredging induced redistribution of bottom sediments produced significant changes in several physical characteristics of the dredged material. Repeated resuspension of bottom sediments during the dredging and spoiling operations caused a net loss of fine grained sediments and light organic constituents. Several symptomatic changes were observed which validate this finding, including: an increase in median grain size and decrease in uniformity of dredge spoils due to loss of fine fractions; a decrease in volatile solids in the dredge spoils due to a net loss of organics; a decrease in porosity at the spoils site due to the ability of the coarse grain sediments to resist resuspension; and a decrease in hygroscopic moisture content due to loss of porous organics and silt-clay material from the spoils. Conditions following dredging were observed for a period of seventy days. Partial recovery of the sediment system was observed after two weeks with no further recovery in two months. The initial recovery came about due to the availability of local sources of resuspended sediment adjacent to the dredge site. This occured under low flow conditions in early fall. Complete recovery of the system was not observed and probably requires the relatively large sources of sediment which accompany heavy winter and spring runoff. Thus, the immediate effects of dredging may persist until the annual cycle of sediment erosion and deposition have occurred.