BCI Engineers and Scientists

The South Florida Water Management District’s (SFWMD) Loxahatchee Reservoir is a critical  component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), and is the first public/private project completed. This 1,000-acre water storage area was created in a former limestone quarry. BCI was retained by Palm Beach Aggregates (PBA) to provide comprehensive design and construction support and serve as the engineer of record.

BCI investigated and evaluated alternative upland disposal sites for three phases of sediment removal and restoration of Taylor Creek, a coastal stream flowing into the Indian River Lagoon. BCI’s scope of work included preparation of permit applications; coordination with local, state, and federal agencies; sediment sampling and characterization; calculation of  volume requirements for disposal; engineering design and construction monitoring of upland disposal area; and monitoring and testing during dredging and material placement.

BCI was hired by the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) to design and implement dredging for seven miles of the  Leslie Hefner Canal and install a new water control structure on Moccasin Slough to restore drainage flow ways and improve navigability.

Lake Griffin is a 9,300 acre lake at the headwaters of the Ocklawaha River in Lake County, Florida. BCI provided evaluation, design, and construction support services of a project to remove sediments from more than 30 canals ringing the lake and to place those sediments in a confined section of a subsided muck farm.  This project required BCI’s expertise in water resource engineering (disposal site impoundment water budget), hydraulic system design (floating pipeline with booster pumps), water quality treatment (alum and polymer feeds for turbidity control), geotechnical engineering (slope stability,  embankment design, settling and consolidation of mixed media slurry), construction support services (bid specifications and plans, contractor screening and selection, engineering inspections, progress payment review, permit compliance review, landowner  coordination).

BCI was hired by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to design a hydraulic dredging project to remove a layer of fine-grained sands and organic sediments from the lake bottom at Eagle Bay on the north end of Lake Okeechobee.  While the main goal of the project was to restore the productive benthic habitat to this area of the lake, BCI had to design a process that would be cost-effective for the removal of the thin organic layer at the site, while meeting a strict total phosphorus standard for return water of 40 parts per billion (ppb) or less.

BCI conducted a feasibility study on Lake Maggiore for the City of St. Petersburg to determine the most effective method of removing organic sediments from the bottom of a 350-acre lake located in a highly urbanized area. The project's purpose was to improve highly impacted water quality and habitat and navigation due to sediment buildup.

-INTRO TEXT-

BCI was contracted by the City of Palm Bay to conduct a maintenance dredging project on the upper reach of Turkey Creek in the City of Palm Bay, Florida.  The goal of this project was to remove the majority of the sandy sediments from this area.  A specific objective was to attain sufficient depth to provide navigation access from the Indian River Lagoon to the Turkey Creek Sanctuary.

BCI was contracted by the City of Melbourne to remove sediments from Crane Creek in the Indian River Lagoon. The goal of the project was to remove muck volume to satisfy the following objectives: Attain sufficient depth to provide an efficient long-term "sink" for fine-grained sediment originating in the upper reaches of the creek watershed. Improve navigation access, prevent re-suspension of fine-grained sediment in the project area and attain better water quality.

Lake Sippo is a 107-acre freshwater lake located in Perry Township, Starke County, Ohio. The lake and accompanying 260-acre Sippo Lake Nature Area and Sanders Center of Outdoor Education is a focal point for the local community. Several feasibility studies confirmed that ongoing, explosive summer growth of macrophytes was the direct result of shallow lake depths.

In 1996, BCI was retained by the City of Lakeland Public Works Department to develop plans and provide CEI services for the removal of organic sediments that covered approximately 75 percent of the lake bottom. Muck deposits ranged in thickness from one foot to over twenty feet.