DESCRIPTION: Maintenance dredging of the creek was completed in FY 2010 with upland placement of dredged material. Administrative and financial closeout of the contract will be completed. The channel will be in caretaker status for this fiscal year.
AUTHORIZATION: The existing project was adopted in 1930 and modified in 1950. The 1950 project provides for a channel 10 ft. deep and generally 150 ft. wide from Long Island Sound through Eastchester Bay to a point 700 ft. below the Boston Post Road Bridge, and thence 70 ft. wide extending to a point where the creek divides into a Y, thence approximately 1,000 ft. into the east branch of the Y and approximately 500 ft. into the west branch of the Y; a passing basin south of the Boston Post Road Bridge; widening of the channel at the Boston Post Road Bridge; and for construction of a check dam at the head of navigation.
No work has been done under the project modification adopted in 1950. Maintenance dredging has been performed under the previous project adopted in 1930 which provided for a channel 8 ft. deep and generally 150 ft. wide from Long Island Sound through East Chester Bay to a point 700 ft. below the Boston Post Road Bridge, and thence 70 ft. wide to the northern terminus of the project, about 300 ft. above the Fulton Street Bridge.
The 1950 project has not been constructed because the local interests (City of New York, City of Mount Vernon and Village of Pelham) failed to furnish a suitable disposal site for the construction and subsequent maintenance of the project. The Y portion of the project has been de-authorized by the provision of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 codified as 33 U.S.C 2211. of 1986 codified as 33 U.S.C 2211.
COMMERCE: 305,000 tons of cargo is transported through this channel annually (2021 Waterborne Commerce Data). Petroleum, sand and gravel, and scrap metal are transported to thirteen docks located on the channel. Eastchester Creek supports combined petroleum storage facilities of 39 steel storage tanks with the capacity to store 217,550 barrels of petroleum (ref. Port Series #5, 1999).
BACKGROUND: Maintenance dredging of the creek with upland placement was last completed in FY2010. Approximately 21,000 cubic yards of sediment was removed from the Federal channel with upland placement. Prior to this cycle, the project was last dredged to 8 ft. deep (under the 1930 authorization) in 1989 with the removal of approx. 36,000 cubic yards of sediment. The dredged material was disposed of at the Mud Dump Site and the Central Long Island Sound Disposal Site. Subsequently, the dredged material from the Eastchester Creek has been found to be not suitable for ocean disposal. Engineering and design effort to explore alternative disposal was undertaken as a possible candidate for a decontamination demonstration project with USEPA in 1999. A required dewatering site for dredged material from the demonstration project was not available.
STATUS: During FY2024, funding will provide for commonly performed Operations & Maintenance (O&M) work including monitoring of the channel shoaling conditions and coordination with the users and stakeholders. The production of an annual hydrographic condition survey and publication of the Controlling Depth Report on the District’s website below, are also scheduled for FY2024.
https://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/Controlling-Depth-Reports/
CONTACT:
Divyesh Patel
Asset / Project Manager
P: (917) 790-8582
Email: Divyesh.g.patel@usace.army.mil
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
http://www.nan.usace.army.mil
District Area: NY # 18 and NY #7