From December 21, 2020 to January 15, 2021 the Gowanus Canal Superfund Project Team (GCSPT) continued removing debris and sediment from the canal by dredging. Dredged material is loaded from smaller “mini” barges that can navigate the narrow canal to the transloading area at Huntington Street. The dredged material is then dewatered and transloaded to larger barges and shipped across New York Harbor to the dredged material processing facility in New Jersey.
A total of 6,295 cubic yards of material were dredged between December 21 and January 15th. As of January 15, 15,415 cubic yards of material and debris have been dredged from Remedial Treatment Area (RTA) 1.
On December 23, dredging between the Carroll Street Bridge and the Union Street Bridge commenced. Due to the high volume of project related maritime traffic, the Carroll Street Bridge will remain in the open position from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM Monday through Friday to accommodate active construction. During this timeframe, Carroll Street will remain closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic between Bond Street and Nevins Street until further notice.
In addition to the ongoing dredging work, GCSPT also began staging materials and fabricating templates for upcoming pipe pile bulkhead installation operations. These preparatory operations involve driving steel piles (similar to steel beams) into the canal bed at multiple locations in order to support steel templates utilized as a guide for pipe pile installation. Ultimately, the Carroll Street Bridge and the Union Street Bridge will have pipe pile walls installed as bulkheads to support the bridge abutments during future phases of dredging. Pipe piles will also be installed at Turning Basin 1 (TB1) to create a bulkhead wall to support fill materials on the upland side of the canal. Installation of the steel piles at the bridges and TB1 is expected to begin in late January.
Photos of construction activities are provided on pages 1 and 2 of this progress update.
12.23.20 Dredging activities between the Carroll Street Bridge and the Union Street Bridge
12.29.20 Dredging activities between the Carroll Street Bridge and the Union Street Bridge
12.30.20 Transloading operations and steel piles to be utilized in pipe pile templates
1.4.21 Continued deployment of the turbidity curtain south of 3rd Street
1.4.21 Continued dredging activities between the Carroll Street Bridge and the Union Street Bridge
1.4.21 Continued dredging activities between the Carroll Street Bridge and the Union Street Bridge
1.5.21 Following dewatering of the “mini” hopper, the sediments are transloaded into a larger hopper suitable for transport to the sediment processing facility in NJ.
1.7.21 Continued dredging activities between the Carroll Street Bridge and the Union Street Bridge
1.13.21 Lifting and placing steel piles from the upland area into mini hopper barge for transportation up canal for installation
