Barges in the Severn

[mill686]

Anyone know what's going on? Are they replentishing?

[J.P. Williams]

They are Langenfelder Marine barges contracted for a 13.5-acre Corps of Engineers test of alternative materials for substrate in restoration oyster reefs. What's on the barges this time is chunks of granite about the size of the Belgian blocks used for landscaping. They are going onto the deeper W & E ends of Capt. Pike's Lump (aka Bar & Grill) & on a reef site off Wardour. Other sites will get chunks of concrete, like Aisquith's, & still others, shell, as a control for the experiments. They'll plant spat-on-shell next spring and monitor afterward. I talked to the tug crew when I was fishing Saturday. They are capable folks, & the cranes have GPS sensors at their tops for precise material placement w/ the clamshell buckets.

BTW, CBF's [I]Patricia Campbell[I] is scheduled to be in the river Friday afternoon with several NOAA divers to monitor the Aisquith, Saltworks, Martins Pond, Capt. Pike, & Old Drawbridge reefs.

[27 sailfish]

:D - NOAA divers , oh what fun could that could be.

They're going to love the drawbridge reef - lots of dead end caves from the deck being stacked like a teepee.

Great to see some new reef going in :clapping2::clapping2:.

[Megabyte]

I saw at least 3 barges and cranes today (through the snow), east of the Rt 50 bridge.
Part of the same project?