Navigation Study of Proposed Improvements to the Salem River Navigation Channel, New Jersey

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Navigation Study of Proposed Improvements to the Salem River Navigation Channel, New Jersey

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Daggett, Larry L. / Thevenot, Michelle M.

This report presents the results, conclusions, and recommendations from a radar-based navigation study of proposed improvements for the Salem River, New Jersey. The present Salem River project consists of an entrance channel from the Delaware River to the Penn's Neck Highway Bridge for Route 49. The authorized project depth is 12ft mean low water with a width of 150 ft narrowing to 100 ft at the cutoff at Sinnicksons Landing. A project deepening and widening is proposed to provide an 18-ft-deep and 180-ft-wide navigation channel with a 495-ft turning basin. This would allow larger ships to economically use the port. The existing and proposed plans were modeled on the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station's ship/tow simulator, and locally licensed pilots performed real-time simulated transits through the modeled navigation channels. The data collected from these tests were analyzed and modifications to the proposed design were made. These included tapering the channel in several locations, widening the channel at critical locations, and widening and reshaping the turning basin. It was further recommended that additional improvements to the channel design could be obtained with additional testing with normal visual displays available for the pilots to use.