All About Dredging
Posted by Ruth Ann Angus
Our speaker for the February 16th meeting, Nick Tietje of AIS, told us all we want to know about the current dredging project at Morro Bay. he was introduced by Mike Pond.
The program has been funded primarily with stimulus monies. Nick is really pleased to work in Morro Bay, because he generally has to travel elsewhere. His family has been in the county for more than 55 years.
The program has been funded primarily with stimulus monies. Nick is really pleased to work in Morro Bay, because he generally has to travel elsewhere. His family has been in the county for more than 55 years.
AIS Construction is new to this type of work, because they have
generally worked on difficult slope stabilization in places such as Big
Sur. The company has been in business for 12 years. Their focus is in
going after more difficult projects and as a result, they have worked
everywhere from Hawaii to Alaska to the Midwest and all throughout
California.
AIS has two divisions: marine dredging and land rock fall work. They currently have 41 nets along Highway 41 to halt landslides and they have also been working on debris capture on the Big Sur coast..
The company owns two electric dredgers. They don't use pumps or diesel or a big power wheel. The fully electronic approach is more expensive but has no environmental impact, which allows them to bid for jobs in sensitive areas like Santa Barbara, where requirements include no noise and no diesel. This has also allowed them to work in places like Redding, Huntington Beach and San Diego. All of the equipment is portable and reduces down into eight large pieces transportable by trucks.
Locally, the Morro Bay Project is much more dangerous because of the tides and its ranking as the fifth most dangerous harbor on the west coast. They have much better conditions in the Channel Islands, due to the difference in the tide cycles.
Our local project was a stimulus project to move 630,000 cubic feet from the bay to local beaches. It's been seven years since the last channel dredging project. During this project, the electric team was working 24/7 and the hydraulic team was working 16/7, with most employees coming from out of town.
Every day they are moving about 12,000 cubic feet under 200 PSI pressure; loading this material onto a scow to drop it in the ocean just south of the sandspit. In total, there are approximately 30 people staying in Morro Bay, eating here, working with local fisherman for equipment, and all-in-all bringing about $350,000 in business to town. Total budget for this project is $8 million dollars.
Nick concluded his presentation by saying his company is looking forward to coming back to Morro Bay as are all the workers because have had a great experience in our town. Hopefully the Army Corps of Engineers will allow them to do more jobs here because of this one's success.
Generally speaking, the ACOE uses its own hopper dredge, the Yaquina, to clear out the Morro Bay harbor. Because of the infusion of stimulus funds, the ACOE was able to contract out some of their work backlog.
Nick then took several questions from the club. He said the bad weather definitely slowed them down, but they persevered through pouring rain howling winds.
AIS has two divisions: marine dredging and land rock fall work. They currently have 41 nets along Highway 41 to halt landslides and they have also been working on debris capture on the Big Sur coast..
The company owns two electric dredgers. They don't use pumps or diesel or a big power wheel. The fully electronic approach is more expensive but has no environmental impact, which allows them to bid for jobs in sensitive areas like Santa Barbara, where requirements include no noise and no diesel. This has also allowed them to work in places like Redding, Huntington Beach and San Diego. All of the equipment is portable and reduces down into eight large pieces transportable by trucks.
Locally, the Morro Bay Project is much more dangerous because of the tides and its ranking as the fifth most dangerous harbor on the west coast. They have much better conditions in the Channel Islands, due to the difference in the tide cycles.
Our local project was a stimulus project to move 630,000 cubic feet from the bay to local beaches. It's been seven years since the last channel dredging project. During this project, the electric team was working 24/7 and the hydraulic team was working 16/7, with most employees coming from out of town.
Every day they are moving about 12,000 cubic feet under 200 PSI pressure; loading this material onto a scow to drop it in the ocean just south of the sandspit. In total, there are approximately 30 people staying in Morro Bay, eating here, working with local fisherman for equipment, and all-in-all bringing about $350,000 in business to town. Total budget for this project is $8 million dollars.
Nick concluded his presentation by saying his company is looking forward to coming back to Morro Bay as are all the workers because have had a great experience in our town. Hopefully the Army Corps of Engineers will allow them to do more jobs here because of this one's success.
Generally speaking, the ACOE uses its own hopper dredge, the Yaquina, to clear out the Morro Bay harbor. Because of the infusion of stimulus funds, the ACOE was able to contract out some of their work backlog.
Nick then took several questions from the club. He said the bad weather definitely slowed them down, but they persevered through pouring rain howling winds.