2023 Top 500 Sourcebook: Oysters Along Highway 98
Oyster habitat will help prevent erosion by decreasing wave strength in the Florida panhandle, while aiding its fishing industry after wild shellfish harvesting was suspended in 2020 because of depleted oyster populations.
Photo: Clay Church/USACE
A coastal 12-mile stretch of Highway 98 in Franklin County in Florida's panhandle—a designated hurricane evacuation route—is itself prone to erosion from the same storm forces. In the latest attempt to tackle this problem, the Apalachee Regional Planning Council is creating a living shoreline while restoring a critical oyster population.
WSP USA, engineer and owner's representative on the Franklin-98 Living Shoreline Project, worked on its concept development, grant applications and site analysis, including ecological and elevation surveys and geotechnical data, plus project design. It is now providing construction support and monitoring services.
The project will consist of adding 30 acres of intertidal marsh and 20 acres of oyster reef in Apalachicola Bay. The marsh will largely comprise native vegetation plantings along the shore. Oyster reef breakwater habitats will be formed by materials such as rocks and recycled concrete. The intentionally irregular reefs that will span up to 75 ft will be separated by 5-ft tidal channels for water flow.
The council is currently accepting proposals for the start of construction, with a July 21 deadline and projected award date of Aug. 2.
Arcadis-AECOM
PFAS Assessments at Army National Guard Sites
An Arcadis-AECOM joint venture was chosen in May for a 5-year, $99-million single-award task order contract for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) remedial investigations, risk assessments and feasibility studies at U.S. Army National Guard sites nationwide. The team will also determine sites and installations where the chemicals may be in drinking water, risks to local residents and appropriate solutions.
PFAS has been found at military sites across the country, released through fire-fighting foam containing the chemicals that was used during training exercises. Beginning in October, the U.S. Dept. of Defense is prohibiting purchase of PFAS-containing fluorinated aqueous film-forming foam, with a full phaseout by October 2024.
Carollo Engineers
200+
The number of U.S. living shoreline projects funded since 1998 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Community-Based Restoration Program .
- Source: NOAA
Studying Direct Potable Water Reuse in Phoenix
The City of Phoenix has hired Carollo Engineers to study the potential for direct potable reuse in the city through construction of an advanced water purification facility. It would clean treated effluent from the 91st Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant to beyond drinking water standards. The plant is jointly owned by Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, Mesa and Tempe.
CDM SMITH-Stanley
Completing Design of a Fort Worth, Texas, Bypass Channel
Photo by Getty Images/Brandt DiLauro
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in May awarded to a joint venture of CDM Smith and Stanley Consultants a $6.8-million architect-engineer contract to complete design of the North Bypass Channel in Fort Worth, Texas—the same team that developed the project's 60% design. “We now have the full team on board, and we are ready to roll up our sleeves and complete the design so we can move into construction,” said Kalli Egan, Corps program manager, in a statement. The contract covers 3,900 ft of the 8,400-ft channel, which is part of a larger project to update the 1960s construction of the Fort Worth Floodway, including the channel and levees. Also involved is mitigating floodplain storage and environmental and cultural resources related to construction.
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