Amy Nelson

Seeley's Cove is a small craft harbour located in southwestern New Brunswick. It has been dredged several times in the past to allow larger ships to navigate to the wharf. In 2006 Public Works and Government Services Canada commissioned a report from Martec Engineering to determine the feasibility of dredging the channel again. Martec concluded that a 2.5m channel would be infilled in less than 3 years (at approximately 1m/year), based on a longshore drift sedimentation model. Tim Milligan and Gary Bugden, of Fisheries and Oceans reviewed the report and concluded, based on available data and local knowledge, that the Martec sedimentation rate was too high and that tidal pumping and flocculation were the more likely cause of sedimentation. A study was done of the area using several methods including shallow seismic, particle dynamics, bathymetry interpolation and 210Pb and 137Cs dating to determine a more accurate rate of sedimentation. The resulting rate calculated from this study was approximately 1 cm/yr, 100 times less than the rate predicted by Martec Engineering and more in line with the observations of local fishermen.

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Pages: 36
Supervisors: T. Milligan / G. Bugden