Dredged Material Research Program (DMRP)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initiated the DMRP in 1973, successfully completing it in 1978. The DMRP was designed for national application, including research of all major types of dredging activities, all regions of the country, and all types of environmental settings. Results were first-generation procedures for evaluating the physical, chemical, and biological impacts of a variety of disposal alternatives in water, on land, and in wetland areas. Research resulted in cost-effective methods and guidelines for assessing and minimizing the impacts of conventional disposal alternatives. At the same time, DMRP activities demonstrated viability and limits of new disposal alternatives, including the beneficial use of dredged material in areas such as wetlands. New or improved procedures for designing, constructing, and managing confined disposal areas to maximize service life and minimize adverse environmental impacts were developed. Procedures to predict and minimize turbidity from dredging material disposal operations and methods to predict movement of dredged material in the aquatic systems also were products of DMRP research.

In addition to providing the data and information needed to develop criteria and guidelines, two fundamental disposal management conclusions were reached.

• First, no single disposal alternative is most suited for a region or a type of project. Conversely, there is no single disposal alternative that can be dismissed as environmentally unsatisfactory due to potential impacts. In other words, from a technical standpoint there is no inherent effect or characteristic of an alternative disposal method that precludes its consideration before specific site assessment. This conclusion holds true for ocean disposal, confined disposal, or any other alternative.
• Second fundamental conclusion relates to planning. To address a variety of environmental factors and considerations adequately, long-range regional planning is required for effective disposal of dredged material. Through use of disposal management plans that consider project types, dredged material characteristics, disposal alternatives, and other factors, the best opportunity exists for maximum environmental protection at an acceptable cost.

The DMRP, for the first time in dredging research, researched in definitive information about the impacts of dredged material disposal and on methods to minimize any adverse effects there of.

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Web Date: April 1998
Updated: July 21, 2000