During the week of March 15, the Gowanus Remediation Team continued work along the canal. Our crews dredged sediment, raked the canal bed, and removed aging timber structures.

This week dredging took place north of the Carroll Street Bridge. After dredging the target area, our crews began raking the canal bed between the Union Street Bridge and the Carroll Street Bridge using an excavator equipped with a rake attachment. Raking the canal bed is conducted as preparation for in-situ stabilization (ISS). ISS is a remediation process by which contaminants are rendered immobile through reactions with stabilizing compounds mixed directly into the soil or sediment.

Additionally, our crews successfully removed several aging structures, including timber batter piles and timber dolphins. These historical structures once provided a protective barrier for bridges, bulkheads, and other canal structures. The structures were removed as part of the planned remediation.

The dredged material is loaded from smaller “mini” hopper 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.

The Carroll Street Bridge will remain in the open position while the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) performs maintenance on the bridge. Carroll Street will be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic until further notice.

Photos of construction activities are provided below.