Waterways

Wheeler's short window overlaps a longer Southwest Pass programme

Published 3 September 2026 Publisher IMWO Region Americas Confidence Confirmed
Wheeler and Glenn Edwards planned Mississippi River and Southwest Pass work envelopes around Head of Passes, with separate 13 AHP and 22 BHP areas and vessel-specific windows

IMWO original Head of Passes river-mile schematic from the 1 and 3 September USACE notices; work envelopes, not a navigation chart or continuous dredged cut

USACE has scheduled the government hopper Wheeler for approximately 4-15 September around Head of Passes. A separate notice for Glenn Edwards covers the same river-mile envelopes but runs to approximately 31 October, making vessel-specific dates and passing arrangements important.

Two notices identify different vessel windows

The New Orleans District's 3 September notice names Wheeler between Head of Passes and approximately 22 miles Below Head of Passes in Southwest Pass, and between Head of Passes and approximately 13 miles Above Head of Passes in the Mississippi River. Its 1 September Bulletin 26-85 names the government-contract hopper Glenn Edwards in the same envelopes, starting on or about 4 September and continuing through approximately 31 October. Both describe planned 24-hour, seven-day operations. Their shared area does not make their schedules interchangeable.

Two work areas share the Head of Passes reference

Above and Below Head of Passes refer to opposite sides of the mile-zero reference. Adding 13 and 22 produces a misleading impression of a continuous 35-mile dredging contract: the notices identify areas where each vessel may work, not an excavated length or a measured output. Neither notice gives cut quantities, material-placement locations, accepted depths or a complete navigation closure.

Evidence conclusion

Passing coordination is separate from channel acceptance

Both notices ask mariners to contact dredge personnel on VHF 16 or 67 for passing arrangements, then transit cautiously at the slowest safe speed to minimise wake. Those instructions describe coordination with working plant rather than a blanket prohibition on traffic. The planned windows overlap, but do not confirm simultaneous vessel positions, completed shifts or actual mobilisation. USACE's 2015 Marine Design Center account identifies Wheeler as owned and operated by the New Orleans District and describes its earlier repowering. That history explains the government-vessel identity; it is not a new commercial award or evidence of present vessel performance. The 2017 district survey-information bulletin separately explains that bathymetric results represent conditions at their survey date and can change with dredging, shoaling and scour. Programme dates therefore cannot substitute for dated channel-condition information. For vessel operators and marine suppliers, passing coordination requires identifying which dredge is present, where it is working and which notice applies to the intended transit. Updated operational notices and current navigation advice remain the appropriate basis for a passage decision; this explanatory diagram is not a navigation chart.

Outstanding evidence

  • Vessel-specific operational notices and changes to the approximate work windows
  • Actual work locations and dredge passing arrangements before a transit
  • Dated channel-condition surveys, distinct from scheduled dredging activity
  • Published production, placement and close-out information for each campaign

Related records 1

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