Three projects each of approximately 70,000 cy of marine (saline) sediment from dredge maintenance projects at the Cheatham Annex, part of the U.S. Navy’s Yorktown Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown VA, and from Yorktown NWS have been pumped into the Earle basin in the last decade. The materials were fine textured and had no contaminants at levels of concern.

The material was pumped out in a very thin layer over a broad, gently-sloped area within the Earle basin and averaged <2 feet of depth with <4 feet in the lower areas of the basin. The goal of this placement was to fill in some low wet areas in the higher Earle material and to use the thin layer approach to return to wheat production in the Earle basin.

Two years after the last placement of material, the Cheatham material has been determined to be low enough in salts and sufficiently dried to begin preparations for and production of winter wheat. Within three years, wheat production matched or exceeded crop yields on the adjoining farm fields, which are some of the most productive soils in the state.  Virginia Tech studies conducted on the Earle basin sediments, groundwater and vegetative production capability continue from 2005 to this day – see related content on Research page.

The Cheatham & Yorktown projects were a typical pumping offloading operation, using a 12’’ or 14’’ hydraulic high solids pumps to move the material from the barge at the dock to the chosen placement basin cell.  Another pump recirculated the water from the basin back to the pump at the dock.  The system is a ‘closed loop’ recycling the water and is designed without discharge of any effluents from the placement operation.  The rate of production saw barges of 2300 cy offloaded in 4-8 hours of operation.

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