Development of a beneficial uses plan for the proposed Houston ship channel widening and deepening project

In 1990, the Beneficial Uses Group (BUG) was created as a subcommittee of the Interagency Coordination Team (ICT). BUG was tasked to evaluate possible beneficial uses of dredged material and incorporate them into a dredged materials placement plan for the HSC Modernization Project. This article addresses the efforts of the BUG leading to the adoption of a Beneficial Uses Plan focused on the construction of nearly 4600 acres of environmentally beneficial uses of dredge material using some 64 MCY of new work and the 160 MCY of maintenance material over 50 years of the project deepening the HSC from 40 feet to 45 feet and widens it from 400 feet to 530 feet. In general, the goal of BUG was to develop a disposal plan that employs dredged materials in an environmentally sound and economically acceptable manner that incorporates other public benefits into its design