USACE invites comments on Wabasha dredging pipeline

The USACE St. Paul District is seeking public comments on a draft plan to install a pipeline near Reads Landing, Minnesota.

According to USACE, the pipeline will be used to transport dredged material, or river sand, during maintenance of the Mississippi River navigation channel.

The Army Corps planners are proposing to install a pipeline from Reads Landing to the Wabasha Gravel Pit, just north of Wabasha, Minnesota. The pipeline would improve upon an existing route that the Corps of Engineers has used approximately five times in the past.

The new 24-inch diameter pipeline would be approximately 6,030 feet in length and used to move the sand during dredging operations near the confluence of the Mississippi and Chippewa rivers.

If approved, the pipeline would be potentially installed later this year but could be installed next year.

USACE said: “The timeline is dependent upon receiving the necessary materials. Corps planners project that the pipeline would be used annually for approximately three consecutive weeks during the dredging season. It will be cleaned out and capped when not in operation.”

Comments on the draft EA should be submitted no later than March 29, USACE said.