Housatonic Sediment Mapping  Lenox and Housatonic, Massachusetts

In December, 1998, CR Environmental, Inc.  performed bathymetric, sub-bottom profiling and sediment probing in Woods and Rising Ponds in the Housatonic River of western Massachusetts for Roy  F. Weston, Inc. under subcontract to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  

The purpose of the investigation was to produce sediment thickness and bathymetric maps to aid in planning of vibra-coring and dredging of  PCB contaminated sediments originating from upstream General Electric facilities in Pittsfield, MA.   

CR Environmental mobilized a 16-foot jon- boat with an Edgetech X-Star sub-bottom profiler, Trimble DGPS, HYPACK survey software, and Raytheon precision depth recorder to perform shallow water sub-bottom profiling and bathymetric surveying. In areas where gas was encountered in the pond sediments, reliable X-Star data could not be obtained and, over 300 sediment probes to sediment depths of 15 feet were performed.  Sediment data from probes were merged with the X-Star data and a HYPACK target file of station positions and sediment thickness maps of Woods and Rising Ponds created using Surfer, Version 6.03.       

Gary Buchanan
Roy F. Weston, Inc.
Raritan Plaza III
Suite 2B, 101 Field Crest
Edison, NJ 08837