Saw this on the local news yesterday. What an excellent use of the Corps of Engineers and Baltimore Harbor dredgings. In fourth grade, we did an in-depth study of the Netherlands including how the dikes and polders were built. The process in this news report reminded me of those old films in Mr. Jensen’s class.
What is especially heartening here is the creation of additional wildlife habitat. The reclaimed islands still have an artificial shape, but I doubt the birds mind. But I don’t know if this would help places like Smith Island and Tangier Island. Maybe strategically placed barrier islands and reefs would help. With erosion, rising seas and subsidence, Tangier is expected to be underwater within a lifetime. I’d hate to see that Tangier Island way of life go.
TTG
http://www.poplarislandrestoration.com
https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/md-gets-37-million-to-rebuild-islands-with-dredged-sediment/
We could use some of that Corps of Engineers restoration work out here in the Columbia River. There are deepwater ports (Portland OR is ~90 miles river miles from the Ocean, plus Longview WA, & Kalama WA) far up the river and the channels are frequently dredged. But except in some small cases the dredged sand has been used for construction (bad idea IMO), golf courses, or piled up to make barren sand islands. It could be used a lot better to protect Puget Island or Sauvie Island or many of the other existing river islands.
And we could use some of those Dutch polders. We have some smaller manmade floodplains on the bay here and a small river nearby, which is great for duck and geese hunting. They do have some bigger ones down south on the on Sacramento River Delta in CA.