Degrove Continues Survey Support for USACE/JAXPORT Efforts on Bartram Island – Duval County, FL

April 2nd, 2019 by Degrove Surveyors, Inc. Uncategorized

Bartram Island is a unique disposal area located in the St. Johns River, directly adjacent to the navigation channel and under the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge (commonly referred to as “Dames Point Bridge”) in Jacksonville.  The 760-acre island has been used for over 100 years as a disposal area for ongoing dredging projects at the port and within the navigation channel of the river.  While Bartram Island is owned by Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport), construction on the island has historically been managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Jacksonville District.

Since 2005, Degrove Surveyors has been providing ongoing, as-needed survey support in the five existing and active cells A, B, C, F, and G, which total over 550 acres.  The majority of the services provided have been Quantity Surveys to support progress payments to the contractor during construction.  To achieve these Quantity Surveys, Degrove has had to complete control, topographic, and hydrographic survey tasks.  The data from these tasks is used to create a digital terrain model (DTM).  The quantity of material excavated or placed is computed through volume calculations based on pre-excavation and post-excavation surveys.  These volumes are then provided to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Currently, Degrove is tasked with providing survey support to the Army Corps of Engineers in its 2.5 year project to the raise the dike elevation of Cell A from 34 feet to 55 feet.  This will substantially increase the capacity of Cell A, allowing Jaxport to dredge the St. Johns River to a depth that will allow the new and larger Panamax cargo ships access to the port facilities. 

In addition to Quantity Surveys, other survey services provided on Bartram Island have been As-built, Wetland Mitigation, and Construction Layout Surveys.

Pictured above: Degrove Project Manager Randy Tompkins meeting onsite with a member of the ACOE project management team.

Degrove field crew chief surveying on the south side of Bartram Island.  Dames Point Bridge and St. Johns River in background.

Degrove’s RTK base station on Bartram Island.  Dames Point Bridge in background.

Aerial imagery of Bartram Island with Cells labeled.