Dredged Material Disposal Economics

Recent difficulties in siting dredged material disposal facilities are increasing interests in alternative disposal or reuse of dredged material and the possible adverse consequences of any increases in the generation of dredged materials. This paper focuses on economic aspects of these issues. Simple methods are suggested for evaluating the economics of increasing or decreasing the rate of disposal of dredged material into a disposal site with a limited volume. These simple methods apply to common special cases. A more elaborate linear programming method is suggested for consideration and scheduling of several disposal alternatives. These methods are illustrated by examples and their limitations are discussed.