Photo By Ryan Labadens | Construction partners working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans...... read more read more
Team members from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, received a 2024 Innovation of the Year Award for developing a notched underwater sill barrier to help slow saltwater progression up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico during the 2023 low-water season.
According to Col. Damon Delarosa, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chief of Staff, these annual awards recognize successful innovations associated with the incorporation of new technologies, the novel application of science-driven methodologies, or the implementation of research and development results with the goal of enhancing the delivery of the USACE mission.
Working together with personnel from the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss., the New Orleans team developed the idea for the notched sill when the original sill constructed in July 2023 was overtopped by saltwater intruding up the Mississippi River.
USACE augmented the underwater sill from its original depth of -55 feet to a depth of -30 feet when the initial sill was overtopped by saltwater moving upriver. A 620-foot-wide navigation lane was kept on the sill at a depth of -55 feet to ensure deep-draft shipping continued along the nation’s busiest inland waterway.
“[The notch] would allow us to build the sill to higher elevations while not impacting the navigation industry,” said Heather Jennings, USACE New Orleans District civil engineer and team member who developed the concept for the sill. “It was a simple idea to a complex problem at the time, and I never expected it to be so well received. It exceeded all our expectations.”
According to David Ramirez, USACE New Orleans District, Lower Mississippi River & Tributaries Engineering Branch chief, the notched sill barrier helped arrest further intrusion of the saltwater wedge up the Mississippi River in 2023.
Data from the modeling team provided by Hailey Laurent, USACE New Orleans District civil engineer, showed that after the sill was augmented, the toe of the saltwater wedge only reached up to river mile (RM) 69.4, with surface water being inundated at RM 54.4. This inundation was several miles below the freshwater intakes at Belle Chasse, La. (RM 75.5), the first main city upriver from the sill location, and well below the Carrollton freshwater intakes for New Orleans, La., located at RM 104.7. USACE models projected the maximum distance the saltwater wedge toe might have reached with the original sill could have been RM 103.7, with the surface water being inundated at RM 88.7.
Saltwater intrusion into the river is a naturally occurring periodic condition because the bottom of the riverbed between Natchez, Miss., and the Gulf of Mexico is below sea level. Under normal circumstances, the downstream flow of the river prevents significant upriver movement of salt water. However, in times of severe low volume water flow, salt water can travel upriver unimpeded and threaten municipal drinking water and industrial water supplies.
“I’m proud to be part of a team that always works together and can find solutions when faced with what seems impossible,” said Jennings.
USACE New Orleans District (MVN) and Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) personnel who were part of the award-winning team are as follows: Heather Jennings (MVN), Michelle Kornick (MVN), Ashley Wainright (MVN), Andrew Oakman (MVN), Dave Ramirez (MVN), Kevin Derbigny (MVN), Hailey Laurent (MVN), Deborah Centola (MVN), Brendan Yuill (MVN), Katelyn Keller (MVN), Anthony Pegues (MVN), Julie Murphy (MVN), Eden Krolopp (MVN), Noah French (MVN), Dan Wiet (MVN), Canda Lorson (MVN), Andrew Tsay (MVN), Cameron Alexander (MVN), Leland Brandon (MVN), Gary Brown (ERDC) and Phu V. Luong (ERDC).
| Date Taken: | 09.24.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.24.2024 12:11 |
| Story ID: | 481623 |
| Location: | NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, US |
| Hometown: | NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 444 |
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