Description: The study will identify and evaluate both the positive and negative impacts of beneficial placement of harbor sediments on the tidal delta and adjacent ocean shores associated with the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. The study will identify and quantify the economic, environmental and social positive and negative impacts of depositing excavated sediments in the nearshore area and on adjacent beaches, rather than at the Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site or confined disposal areas. The study will identify positive and negative impacts that would accrue to other Federal projects and programs, non-Federal projects, and existing structures from the beneficial placement of harbor sediments. The study will also recommend changes to existing programs to implement optimum solutions. The study will be conducted in cooperation with the administrators in Georgia and South Carolina of the federally approved Coastal Zone Management Programs.

Purpose: It is anticipated that significant federal, state, and local tax dollars can be saved by linking the Savannah Harbor Deepening Project with Tybee Island Beach Renourishment Projects, and other projects. Past practice has been to consider individual projects separately, without considering synergistic effects of combining or linking. In order to effect such linking, a Comprehensive Benefit-Cost Study is necessary as a foundation for policy change, whereby all the benefits and all the costs from all related projects in the Savannah Harbor Region are considered for their interrelationships, effects, costs, etc. For instance, disposal of beach quality dredged material from the Harbor Expansion Project on or near adjacent beaches would most probably negate the need for one or more Beach Renourishment Projects.

Description: The study will identify and evaluate both the positive and negative impacts of beneficial placement of harbor sediments on the tidal delta and adjacent ocean shores associated with the Savannah Harbor Maintenance Projects. The study will identify and quantify the economic, environmental and social positive and negative impacts of depositing excavated sediments in the nearshore area and on adjacent beaches, rather than at the Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site or confined disposal areas. The study will identify positive and negative impacts that would accrue to other Federal projects and programs, non-Federal projects, and existing structures from the beneficial placement of harbor sediments. The study will also recommend changes to existing programs to implement optimum solutions. The study will be conducted in cooperation with the administrators in Georgia and South Carolina of the federally approved Coastal Zone Management Programs.

Purpose: It is anticipated that significant federal, state, and local tax dollars can be saved by linking the Savannah Harbor Maintenance Projects with Tybee Island Beach Renourishment Projects, and other projects. Past practice has been to consider individual projects separately, without considering synergistic effects of combining or linking. In order to effect such linking, a Comprehensive Benefit-Cost Study is necessary as a foundation for policy change, whereby all the benefits and all the costs from all related projects in the Savannah Harbor Region are considered for their interrelationships, effects, costs, etc. The impact of the removal of littoral sediment from the active littoral zone through channel maintenance is identified as a major cause of man-induced erosion in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Shore Protection Manual. The extent to which this may be occurring at Savannah Harbor is presently unknown. Reducing project induced erosion on adjacent beaches by conserving the limited natural resource, sand, through deposition directly on adjacent beaches or in nearshore areas, would extend the life of Beach Renourishment Projects, provide added storm protection and recreation benefits, and possibly provide other related benefits and effects, such as reducing related adverse environmental impacts, reducing governmental expenditures, etc.