U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Engineer Research and Development Center

The USACE Upland Testing Manual (UTM) (USACE 2003) provides a tiered approach for performing pathway evaluations. Tier II of the UTM contains a screening methodology built into the Tier 2 Screening Analysis Spreadsheet to determine the need for pathway testing and potential COCs . The screens compare screening criteria, such as water quality standards, with predictions based on bulk sediment chemistry and protective solubility/partitioning/bioavailability relationships as well as empirical data for dredged materials.

This application is a spatially-explicit aquatic bioaccumulation model created to provide estimates of human health and ecological risk at contaminated sites and to support fish consumption warnings. The model is designed to take advantage of GIS-based databases and site characterization tools. It is the only bioaccumulation model that simulates fish foraging behavior together with spatially-explicit exposure concentrations.

The D2M2 model is a management tool that identifies optimal networks of dredging, transfer, and disposal sites to inform dredged material management plans. It effectively analyzes up to millions of combinations of dredging and placement sites to find optimal allocations of specific volumes of dredged material between sites. It optimizes management value under multiple considerations, including sediment type, dredging equipment, transportation paths, storage needs, material use, environmental concerns and other factors.

The D2M2 software package includes a suite of three modules meant to identify optimal dredged material management solutions given user-specified inputs about the sites, links, equipment and decision-making criteria such as cost and environmental benefit. The three modules, the Geographical Information System (GIS), Linear Programming System (LPS), and Decision Support System (DSS), allow managers to create sites and routes in GIS, enter system properties and preferences and calculate optimal dredging networks, and explore and rank dredging options using a multi-criteria decision analysis, respectively.

The BRAMS is an executable program that contains three separate tools, the Bioaccumulation Evaluation Screening Tool (BEST), Trophic Trace (TT) and FishRand (FR). The BEST tool estimates expected risks to human receptors by (1) calculating the edible tissue concentration in human diet species including invertebrate test organisms and their predators based on results of 28-day bioaccumulation testing, (2) calculating an average daily dose to humans that consume these species, and (3) using standard USEPA risk equations to determine potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks. The TT model estimates expected concentrations in fish using a sediment-based food-web model for organic compounds, via trophic transfer factors from invertebrates to fish for certain metals, and via bioconcentration factors from water to fish for the remaining metals and hydrophilic organic compounds. The FR model is an experimental tool for exploring probabilistic exposure and bioaccumulation for migratory and wide-ranging species.

At the request of many users, the BEST tool is also provided as a standalone module (a separate executable program). Recent changes have been made to streamline the tool for the user base.

The Beneficial Use Goods and Services (BUGS) Tool is a preliminary planning aid designed to document and compare beneficial use placement site options along with their associated ecosystem goods and services. This approach supports multiple viable beneficial use (BU) options with varying benefits. The tool aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of short- and long-term benefits and costs for each beneficial use alternative. The information generated through the BUGS Tool can be referenced in future USACE BUGS efforts, studies, and projects, allowing users to build on past successes. The initial effort involves organizing thoughts and some data. This foundational layer sets the stage for future use and expansion. Each subsequent year, this initial information is leveraged, and additional layers are added. These layers include new data, refined analyses, and updated insights. Over time, this layered approach results in a comprehensive, rich repository of information that enhances decision-making and project planning. By continuously building and layering information, users can create a robust, evolving resource that grows more valuable and insightful with each iteration. This method ensures that the initial investment in organizing data and thoughts pays dividends in the long term, providing a solid foundation for ongoing and future projects.

A knowledge-based expert system (KBES) that provides an expert evaluation of the dredgeability characteristics of specific sediments whose geotechnical properties are described in the dredging contract documents. A KBES such as DREDGABL uses expertly derived rules for its solutions. The rules can incorporate and process judgment, experience, empirical rules of thumb, intuition, and other expertise as well as proven functional relationships and experimental evidence. The knowledge base contains a database of facts and a series of IF - THEN rule statements that include all of the questions a typical user may ask. Advice is also given about the suitability of various types of dredging equipment for use with those sediments, based on dredgeability characteristics. Expert knowledge is contained in several knowledge databases that are queried during operation of the program.

The ADDAMS is a set of evolving, computer-based tools that will increase the accuracy, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of dredged material management activities in a timely manner. The ADDAMS provides necessary tools to perform the engineering and planning evaluation for development of a long-term management strategy for dredged material disposal and to evaluate the environmental acceptability of dredged material management alternatives.

ADDAMS contains 16 applications involving management of dredged material disposal or evaluation of environmental acceptability of dredged material management alternatives. The ADDAMS demo provides information about the various applications.

The Dredging Evaluation Management, Analysis and Networked Documentation (DEMAND) Application is designed to guide a dredged material program manager, risk assessor or data generator through 103 or 404 dredging evaluations. The tool was produced through DOER project 19-11. DEMAND can be used for initial project planning and documentation as well as recording decisions made during the dredging evaluation process. The application provides step-by-step procedures for planning and executing a dredging evaluation (e.g., what and when to test) and document rationale for decisions and communication with stakeholders. The application is useful for stakeholder decision documentation so that the same conversations and decisions are not revisited. Installation instructions can be found in the Technical Report “Advances in Dredged Material Evaluations for Inland and Ocean Aquatic Placement: Modernized Processes and Supportive Tools”.

The Dredging Evaluation Visualization, Organization and Integration Database (DEVOID) tool is a data visualization application. The tool was produced through DOER project 19-11. The application mines a dredging database file represented within a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The DEVOID tool was written using the R programming language and packaged using the 7-Zip compression software. The DEVOID tool facilitates examination of historic information (e.g., prior dredging evaluations) to support the initial evaluation and management decisions prompted within the DEMAND tool. For the DEVOID tool to be valuable, its associated database must be populated with the most recent dredging evaluations of the location(s) of interest.