HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYING QUALIFICATIONS

Overview

Staff at CR have over thirty years of combined experience conducting marine and freshwater hydrographic surveys.  Typical projects include: engineering/design surveys; harbor dredge surveys; reservoir sedimentation and volumetric analysis; surveys in support of estuary eutrophication investigations; and marine habitat mapping and characterization.  Surveys are designed to meet current U.S. ACOE and/or IHO standards, as appropriate.  Surveying technologies used on these projects include: single beam echo sounders (dual and single-frequency models); multibeam sonar; side scan sonar; and CHIRP / sub-bottom profiling systems.  Adjunct technologies include data-logging tide gages, Motion Reference Units (MRU’s), sound velocity and water quality profiling instruments, and gyroscopic compasses.  Horizontal positioning for hydrographic surveys is normally conducted using Carrier-Phase DGPS or RTK GPS.  CR owns two Trimble 12-channel DGPS receivers with real-time corrections provided by the USCG or the Omnistar satellite subscriber system.   CR also has experience with microwave ranging systems.  Products are delivered in GIS, CADD and web-enabled formats.

  Representative Bathymetric Experience

CR personnel have cumulatively surveyed thousands of survey “line miles” using a wide variety of depth sounding equipment.  Our marine experience in North America includes harbor and disposal site projects from Seattle to Coastal Maine.  CR staff have experience using several multibeam sonar systems, including the GeoAcoustics GeoSwath interferometric system, Reson Seabat and ELAC systems.  CR also owns and maintains two Ocean Data Equipment Corporation (ODEC) MF-500 single-frequency survey echo sounders. Navigation is accomplished using Trimble DGPS (ProXRS or Ag132) or Trimble dual-frequency OTF-RTK GPS.  GPS experience also includes post-processing of logged data.  CR technicians are expert operators of Coastal Oceanographics’ Hypack hydrographic data acquisition and processing software. 

   Some recent marine single-beam projects include: 

• Monitoring surveys of several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers DAMOS offshore disposal sites (West Island, MA;  Cape Cod, MA; Rockland, ME; Tuppers Ledge, ME).
• A bridge-scour survey of the Morrissey Blvd. Bridge over the Neponset River, Quincy, MA;
• Pre-dredge bathymetric surveys of Seabrook/Hampton Harbor, NH;
• Surveys and habitat classifications of two Massachusetts Bay sites off Scituate, MA as part of a NOAA study (included bathymetry, video, ROV, side scan, benthic sampling and REMOTS);
• Surveys and habitat mapping of several Long Island Sound aquaculture sites (included bathymetry and video);
• Surveys of New Bedford Harbor, MA (bathymetry, side scan, magnetometer);
• A survey and habitat classification supporting a potential dredge disposal/beach nourishment proposal in Humarock, MA (included bathymetry, video, benthic sampling);
• Pre- and post-dredge surveys of Allen Harbor, Naragansett Bay, RI;
• A survey of the Slocum River estuary, Dartmouth, MA;
• A survey of a former fuel depot in Mount Hope Bay, RI
• Two surveys of the Electric Boat Corp. entrance channel, Groton, RI (included bathymetry and side scan); and,
• Two surveys in the vicinity of Harbor Island, Elliot Bay, Seattle, WA (included bathymetry, side scan and benthic grabs).

 Some recent marine multi-beam/swath projects include:

• A survey of a portion of the Buzzards Bay Disposal Site using the GeoSwath system;
• Surveys of 2 areas of Jamaica Bay using a Reson system;
• A survey of the Massachusetts Bay NOMES II site using the GeoSwath system;
• A survey of New Bedford Harbor using the GeoSwath system (map of harbor  - map of hurricane barrier);
• A survey of the MWRA Diffusers using the GeoSwath system.

     Some recent freshwater surveys include:

• A bathymetric and geophysical survey of the Charles River in Watertown, Massachusetts;

• A bathymetric survey of the Mystic River in Medford, Massachusetts;

• Bathymetric and sediment thickness surveys of Jordan Pond, Shrewsbury, MA;

• Bathymetric surveys of five drinking water reservoirs for the Connecticut First Water District in New Canaan;

• Bathymetric and sediment thickness surveys of Mill Pond and the Nashua River in Nashua, New Hampshire;

• Bathymetric and sediment thickness surveys of two reaches of the Neponset River outside Boston, MA;

• Bathymetric and sediment surveys of Mill River Pond, Stamford, CT;

• A bathymetric survey of an 80 mile reach of the Connecticut River between Lebanon, NH and Vernon, VT;

• Bathymetric and sediment thickness surveys of two reservoirs in Pawtucket, RI (Happy Hollow Pond & Robin Hollow Pond); and,

• Bathymetric and geophysical surveys of seven drinking water reservoirs in the Catskill / Delaware watersheds for New York City DEP, with supplemental side-scan and geophysical surveys of specific portions of two reservoirs.

    Side Scan Sonar Experience

CR owns and maintains an Edgetech Model 272-TD 100/500-kHz side scan sonar towfish.  We acquire data using Chesapeake Technology, Inc. SonarWiz software, and process data  using Chesapeake’s SonarWeb software.  Sonar imagery is exported in high-resolution TIF and JPEG formats, as well as in a web-enabled format which allows clients without GIS capabilities to interactively inspect georeferenced imagery.  Further analysis and preparation of final plots is conducted after importing imagery to ESRI’s ArcView GIS software.  Some recent project experience includes:

• Surveys of the ACOE DAMOS Rockland, ME and West Island, MA disposal sites;
• A survey of the East River at the U.N. Headquarters in NYC;
• A survey of the Buzzards Bay Disposal Site, MA;
• Surveys of New Bedford Harbor, MA;
• Several surveys of aquaculture lease sites in Fisher Island Sound and Long Island Sound;
• A survey of the Electric Boat Corp. entrance channel in Naragansett Bay, RI;
• Extensive multiple-round surveys of two experimental offshore sites for a NOAA research project;
• Surveys of two sites in Elliot Harbor, Seattle; 
• A drum search of a small pond in Pittsfield, MA;
• Drum searches of two ponds in Carney's Point, NJ; and,
• A survey of a potential dredge disposal site off Humarock Beach, Scituate, MA.

    Sub-Bottom Profiling Experience

CR staff have extensive experience operating and interpreting sub-bottom sonar data.  Equipment familiarity includes the Edgetech CHIRP sonar product line (X-Star and GeoStar with various towfish), the Benthos CHIRP system, and the ODEC StrataBox.  Recent project experience includes:

• A geophysical survey of the Bordentown Reach of the Delaware River (GeoStar, bathymetry, side scan and magnetometer);
• A geophysical survey of a reach of the Charles River, Watertown, Massachusetts (Stratabox);
• A geophysical survey of Lake Massapoag, Dunstable, Massachusetts (Stratabox)
• Geophysical surveys of New Bedford Harbor (X-Star);
• A geophysical survey of the (former) Fort Point Channel in Boston (Benthos CHIRP); and,
• Surveys of all NYC drinking water reservoirs in the Catskill/Delaware water district (Ashokan, Schoharie, Neversink, Rondout, Cannonsville, Pepacton and West Branch reservoirs – X-Star).