Seafloor Disturbance and Recovery Monitoring at the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island: Summary Report (Year 6)

Olsen, K.; Erickson, R.; Hughes, E.; Diunizio, B.; Sharpe, S. (2022). Seafloor Disturbance and Recovery Monitoring at the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island: Summary Report (Year 6) (Report No. OCS Study BOEM 2022-002). Report by CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. Report for Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

@techreport{Olsen-2022-2080007,
author = {Olsen, K and Erickson, R and Hughes, E and Diunizio, B and Sharpe, S},
title = {Seafloor Disturbance and Recovery Monitoring at the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island: Summary Report (Year 6) },
institution = {CSA Ocean Sciences Inc},
year = {2022},
month = {feb},
number = {OCS Study BOEM 2022-002},
url = {https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy-research-completed-studies},
keywords = {Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Habitat Change, Physical Environment},
}

Export Citation to BibTex

TY - RPRT
TI - Seafloor Disturbance and Recovery Monitoring at the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island: Summary Report (Year 6)
AU - Olsen, K
AU - Erickson, R
AU - Hughes, E
AU - Diunizio, B
AU - Sharpe, S
AB - The seafloor can be disturbed by various activities during the construction and operational phases of a wind farm development. During construction and/or maintenance, vessel anchoring activities and spud penetrations may result in depressions in the seafloor. In addition, while a lift boat is positioned on site, scour can develop around the legs that penetrate the seafloor. Evidence of those impacts on the environment can disappear as sediment is reworked and transported due to natural processes after construction equipment is removed from the seafloor. The recovery rate from a seafloor disturbance primarily depends on sediment type, bottom current flow conditions (e.g., speed, duration, direction, etc.), and size of the disturbance feature. 1 The RODEO Program for the BIWF includes the continuation of seafloor monitoring for recovery from disturbance, evaluation of benthic disturbance around foundations, and evaluation of the source of the disturbance by using repeated high-resolution hydrographic surveys as a multi-temporal analysis tool to monitor for disturbance and recovery of the seafloor associated with the prior BIWF construction activities. The principal objective of the geophysical survey was to collect updated soundings1 data to assess the recovery of the seafloor disturbances associated with the BIWF construction activities. The hydrographic data collected was evaluated to examine the spatial extent of seafloor disturbances around each turbine related to prior construction activities to evaluate seafloor changes over time. CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA) has prepared this Seafloor Disturbance and Recovery Monitoring at the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island - Summary Report (Year 6) to document the methods, data, observations, results, and major conclusions from seafloor disturbance and recovery monitoring survey conducted in and around the Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF) located off of Block Island, Rhode Island (Figure 1) during the summer of 2021. The results of this monitoring effort are compared to the previous BIWF seafloor monitoring results (Fugro 2019) to effectively evaluate disturbance and recovery since the previous survey which occurred in September 2018.
DA - 2022/02//
PY - 2022
SP - 36
PB - CSA Ocean Sciences Inc
SN - OCS Study BOEM 2022-002
UR - https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy-research-completed-studies
LA - English
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Fixed Offshore Wind
KW - Habitat Change
KW - Physical Environment
ER -

Export Citation to RIS

Abstract

The seafloor can be disturbed by various activities during the construction and operational phases of a wind farm development. During construction and/or maintenance, vessel anchoring activities and spud penetrations may result in depressions in the seafloor. In addition, while a lift boat is positioned on site, scour can develop around the legs that penetrate the seafloor. Evidence of those impacts on the environment can disappear as sediment is reworked and transported due to natural processes after construction equipment is removed from the seafloor. The recovery rate from a seafloor disturbance primarily depends on sediment type, bottom current flow conditions (e.g., speed, duration, direction, etc.), and size of the disturbance feature. 1 The RODEO Program for the BIWF includes the continuation of seafloor monitoring for recovery from disturbance, evaluation of benthic disturbance around foundations, and evaluation of the source of the disturbance by using repeated high-resolution hydrographic surveys as a multi-temporal analysis tool to monitor for disturbance and recovery of the seafloor associated with the prior BIWF construction activities. The principal objective of the geophysical survey was to collect updated soundings1 data to assess the recovery of the seafloor disturbances associated with the BIWF construction activities. The hydrographic data collected was evaluated to examine the spatial extent of seafloor disturbances around each turbine related to prior construction activities to evaluate seafloor changes over time.

CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA) has prepared this Seafloor Disturbance and Recovery Monitoring at the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island - Summary Report (Year 6) to document the methods, data, observations, results, and major conclusions from seafloor disturbance and recovery monitoring survey conducted in and around the Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF) located off of Block Island, Rhode Island (Figure 1) during the summer of 2021. The results of this monitoring effort are compared to the previous BIWF seafloor monitoring results (Fugro 2019) to effectively evaluate disturbance and recovery since the previous survey which occurred in September 2018.