Glossary Level 2

A

Access Channel - Navigation channel that connects the main channel or deep water to docks and berthing areas.

Aggregate - The mineral materials, such as sand or gravel, used in making concrete.

Airlift Dredge - A dredge that excavates material using pneumatic pumping.

Ancient Egypt - The period of Egyptian history between 5000 BC and 31 BC.

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Barge - A flat-bottomed vessel used for transporting goods and materials. Barges do not usually move on their own power, but are pushed or towed by tugboats.

Barge Tow - Multiple barges joined together to be pushed or pulled together.

Bathymetric Map - Map that shows the contour of the bottom of a body of water.

Beach Nourishment - Placement of dredged material, normally sand, along a riverbank or coastline to build beaches or to replace beaches that have been washed away.

Beneficial Use of Dredged Material - The placement or use of dredged material for some desirable purpose.

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Canal - A man-made waterway for shipping or irrigation.

Canoe - A narrow open boat, pointed on both ends, propelled by paddling with an oar.

Capped Disposal - The controlled, accurate placement of contaminated material at an open-water site, followed by a covering or cap of clean material that isolates it from the environment.

Cargo - The freight carried by a ship, airplane, truck, or other vehicle.

Coarse-Grained Sediment - Soil definition based on the particle size of the material. Coarse-grained material has a diameter greater than 0.05 mm. Sand and gravel are coarse-grained materials.

Coastal Waterways - Waterways and water routes along the coast and coastal harbors of the country.

Commerce - The buying and selling of goods.

Compound - In chemistry, a compound is substance that is made by combining two or more elements to form another.

Concentration - In chemistry, the concentration of a substance is a measure of its weight or volume compared to the unit weight or volume of the mixture. For example, "mg per liter."

Confined Disposal - Placement of dredged material within diked nearshore or upland confined disposal facilities (CDFs) that enclose the disposal area above any adjacent water surface, isolating the dredged material from adjacent waters during placement. Confined disposal does not refer to subaqueous capping or contained aquatic disposal.

Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) - An engineered structure for containment of dredged material consisting of dikes or other structures that enclose a disposal area above any adjacent water surface, isolating the dredged material from adjacent waters during placement. Other terms used for CDFs that appear in the literature include "confined disposal area," "confined disposal site," and "dredged material containment area."

Congressionally Authorized - An action considered and approved by the Congress of the United States.

Conservation Group - An association of people organized to promote and work for the benefit of some aspect of the environment.

Contaminant - In water and sediment, it is a chemical or biological substance in a form that can be incorporated into, onto, or be ingested by and that harms aquatic organisms, consumers of aquatic organisms, or users of the aquatic environment.

Corps of Engineers - The engineering branch of the US Army. George Washington established the Corps of Engineers in 1775 to assist the military and to survey the young and developing United States. Present-day mission areas include military and civilian construction, navigation, water resources development, flood control, emergency management, and support for others.

Cubic yard - (CY) A measurement of volume defined by a cube with a side length of one yard.

Current - steady, smooth, onward movement.

Cutterhead - On a hydraulic dredge, the rotating blade on the suction end of the pipeline is called the cutterhead. The cutterhead breaks up material on the bottom of the channel before it is sucked up through the pipe.

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Dikes - Earthen walls constructed to contain water. Dikes are constructed around dredged material disposal sites. More commonly, dikes are constructed as flood protection.

Domestic Route - Travel or trade route entirely within the United States.

Dredge - 1. (noun) The machine used to remove, by suction or scooping, sediment from the bottom of a water body. 2.(verb) To remove sediment from the bottom of a water body.

Dredged Material - The term dredged material refers to sediment that has been dredged from a water body, while the term sediment refers to material in a water body prior to the dredging process.

Dredged Material Disposal Site - The area within which disposal of dredged material occurs.

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Economy - The way a country runs its industry, trade, and finance .

Endangered Species - Any type of animal or plant whose ability to survive is seriously in question. Human activities can contribute to such endangerment.

Endangered Species Act - The Endangered Species Act of 1973 instructs federal agencies to carry out programs to conserve endangered and threatened species and to conserve the ecosystems on which these species depend.

Erie Canal - Canal built in the early 1800's that connected Lake Erie to the Hudson River. The Erie Canal provided a water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes entirely within the United States.

Erosion - The washing away of land and soil by the action of wind and water.

Export - 1. (noun) Something, such as food, lumber or a manufactured product, that is sent or sold to another country. 2. (verb) To send or sell something to another country.

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Facility - (for this text) Something that is built to serve a particular function, such as a dredged material disposal facility or a grain-loading facility.

Federal project - (for this text) Any navigation channel or maintenance dredging activity of any nature and for any purpose that is to be performed by or for the Secretary of the Army acting through the Chief of Engineers pursuant to Congressional authorizations.

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Great Lakes - The five connected lakes along the border of the United States and Canada. They are Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron.

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Habitat - The specific area or environment in which a particular plant or animal lives. An organism's habitat provides all of the basic requirements for the maintenance of life. For example, typical coastal habitats include beaches, marshes, rocky shores, bottom sediments, mudflats, and the water itself.

Hopper dredge - A hydraulic dredge that stores dredged material in large bins, or hoppers, inside the hull of the dredge and then transports it to the disposal area.

Hydraulic dredge - A dredge that digs material by mixing it with water and sucking it from the bottom.

Hydrographic surveying - Measuring the depth and mapping the bottom of lakes, rivers, or oceans.

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Impact - The effect of one thing or action on another person, activity, or area. For example, environmental impact refers to the good or bad effect an activity has on the surrounding environment.

Import - 1. (noun) Something, such as food, lumber or a manufactured product that is bought or brought from another country. 2.(verb) To bring or buy something from another country.

Inland Waterways - Waterways, including improved river channels, canals, and navigation locks, on the interior of the country.

International trade - The buying and selling of products, such as foods, manufactured goods, or natural resources, among different countries of the world.

Isoline - a line on a chart that connects points of the same measurement, such as the same elevation, same temperature, etc.

Isthmus of Panama - The narrow strip of land that connects North America and South America. On one side of the Isthmus of Panama is the Atlantic Ocean and on the other side is the Pacific Ocean.

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Kayak - A narrow covered boat, pointed on both ends, propelled by the rider paddling with an oar.

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Levee - A dike used for flood protection.

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Maintenance Dredging - To keep a navigation channel in good condition by dredging to restore depth.

Maintenance dredging prism - In dredging, the area defined by the top, sides, and bottom of the channel, in which all material is to be removed in order to restore the channel to necessary dimensions.

Mechanical Dredge - A dredge that removes material by scooping it from the bottom.

Migrate - In nature, the movement of a species, alone or as a group, from one part of the world to another.

Mississippi River - The largest river in North America, which runs from Northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

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Nautical Chart - Specialized maps of the rivers, harbors, and oceans that contains information necessary for the safe navigation of ships.

Navigation - Travel by ships, aircraft, or other vehicle using maps .

Navigation locks - Structures built on waterways that fill and empty with water to assist boats and ships in transit by raising or lowering them. Locks are comparable to elevators for boats.

Nile River - A north-flowing river in Africa, which flows through Egypt and empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

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Panama Canal - A waterway through the Isthmus of Panama, which connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean.

Phoenicians - People of the ancient civilization of Phoenicia, a collection of city-states located on the Mediterranean Sea, where Syria and Lebanon now exist. The Phoenicians are famous as early shipbuilders and sailors and are credited for the development of the first alphabet.

Pilot - A person who is employed to steer a boat or ship through a river channel. River pilots are very knowledgeable about a particular river or channel. Bar pilots are very knowledgeable about a particular ocean entrance.

Port - A place on a waterway that has facilities for loading and unloading ships.

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Remote - Distant.

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Screening Level - In sediment quality, a screening level concentration refers to the amount of a particular pollutant above which harm to the environment could occur. Below the screening level, the concentration is not known to create problems in the environment. The results of sediment quality analyses are compared to screening level concentrations for a wide variety of substances to determine if the material needs special management to protect the environment during dredging or disposal.

Sediment - Material, such as sand, silt, or clay, suspended in or settled on the bottom of a water body. Sediment input to a body of water comes from natural sources, such as erosion of soils and weathering of rock, or as the result of man's activities, such as forest or agricultural practices, or construction activities.

Ship - 1.(noun) A large seagoing vessel. 2.(verb) To transport.

Shoal - 1.(noun) A shallow area in a waterway caused by the deposition of sediment. 2.(verb) To become shallow due to the deposition of sediment.

Stakeholder - One who has a share or interest in an issue or the outcome of a decision.

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Tow Path - A path along a canal on which men and horses walked while towing boats.

Toxic Pollutants - Pollutants, or combinations of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, that after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will, on the basis of information available to the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions, or physical deformations in such organisms or their offspring.

Trading - Buying, selling, or bartering of goods or services.

Trading Partners - The persons, companies, or nations between which trading occurs to the benefit of all parties.

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Upland - The ground above the floodplain that is not covered by water.

Upland Disposal - The geochemical environment in which dredged material may become unsaturated, dried out, and oxidized.

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Vessel - A boat or ship.

Vikings - Scandinavian people, who dominated northern Europe from the 9th to 11th centuries. They were known as great shipbuilders, fierce conquerors, and explorers.

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Water Transportation - To move people or goods by boat, barge, or ship.

Waterways - Rivers or channels on which boats, barges, and ships can travel.