Dredging Operations Technical Support Program. Effectiveness of a Sea Turtle-Deflecting Hopper Dredge Draghead in Port Canaveral Entrance Channel, Florida.
Abstract
Periodic maintenance dredging of coastal navigation channels is required to maintain the depth necessary for the passage of large commercial and military ship traffic. Sea turtles and other threatened and endangered species may become entrained in the hopper dredge intake pipes, causing the turtles to be crushed or drowned. To prevent this entrainment, a new draghead design was developed to deflect sea turtles from the path of the draghead. Preliminary tests indicated that this design was effective in reducing entrainment of inanimate objects in the path of the draghead without compromising production (Banks and Alexander 1994). The following study was conducted to test the effectiveness of the rigid deflector draghead under field conditions in an area of probable moderate-to-high sea turtle abundance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA314656
Entities
People
- David A. Nelson
- Deborah J. Shafer