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Title: Movement of tagged dredged sand at thalweg disposal sites in the upper Mississippi River

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6036741

Thalweg disposal experiments have been conducted at three sites on the upper Mississippi River. During normal channel maintenance, hydraulically dredged sand was tagged with sand coated with fluorescent dye prior to disposal as a pile in the thalweg. In postdisposal surveys surficial bottom sediment samples were collected in the disposal area and in the thalweg and border areas downstream to determine the movement of the dredged sand relative to environmentally sensitive river habitats. The experiments were initiated in successive years, and the tagged sand has been tracked for 1 to 3 years, depending on the site. Although the downstream movement of the dredged sand was not the same at each site, the general pattern of behavior was similar. Downstream movement was confined primarily to the main channel and occurred in response to periods of high river discharge. There was no statistically significant evidence of dredged sand dispersing out of the main channel into nearby border areas or sloughs. The distributions of dyed sand in cores from one site suggest that the dredged sand has been incorporated into natural bed forms. 7 refs., 5 figs.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-31-109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
6036741
Report Number(s):
CONF-860313-1; ON: DE85014997
Resource Relation:
Conference: 4. interagency sedimentation conference, Las Vegas, NV, USA, 24 Mar 1986
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English