The Third Ward Milwaukee River remediation project is a pivotal step in cleaning up the Milwaukee River. It targets the site of a decommissioned manufactured gas plant that once operated in the area. 

A Collaborative Effort to Clean Milwaukee's River

Brennan was selected as the prime contractor for this ambitious project, tasked with dredging contaminated sediments and treating water to restore the river's health. Working closely with GEI Consultants, Inc. (GEI), the project’s design engineers, Brennan is delivering comprehensive solutions that combine environmental restoration, water treatment, and marine construction expertise.

Brennan embarked on a vital restoration project for the middle section of the Lake George Canal. The primary goal was to protect aquatic organisms by separating them from contaminated sediment through a multi-layer sediment cap.

Initial Site Challenges

Hydrographic surveys revealed areas of varying slope and stability as the first layer of cap material was placed over the canal bottom. These issues were attributed to soft underlying sediment within the canal footprint. The success of this project hinged on effective collaboration between Brennan and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to address these types of challenges.

TAMPA, FL (June 26, 2024) — The Western Dredging Association (WEDA) has honored J.F. Brennan Company (Brennan) and GEI Consultants with a 2024 Safety Excellence Award for their work on the Third Ward Milwaukee River remediation project. GEI and Brennan accepted the award at WEDA’s Annual Dredging Summit and Expo in Tampa, Florida.

WEDA’s Safety Excellence Award recognizes individual organizations or project teams for exceptional safety performance and for exhibiting a proactive approach to raising safety awareness in the dredging workplace.

J.F. Brennan Company, Inc. (Brennan) overcame significant design challenges to complete a dredging project that involved hydraulically pumping slurry over a long distance of 10.4 miles. Brennan employees designed the dredging system and executed the entire project using Brennan-owned pipeline and equipment. 

Treatability testing uses bench-scale demonstrations and analysis to determine if a material can be effectively treated with a specific chemical or process. At Brennan, we use treatability testing to develop sound technical approaches for dredged material dewatering, in situ or dewatered dredged material stabilization, and water treatment. 

Treatability data can be used to price a job more accurately and find cost savings for our clients. Treatability testing allows us to select chemical and mechanical processes for treatment and evaluate less costly alternatives. Here's how we do it.

This year, Brennan's blog posts garnered an impressive readership of over 27,000. An analysis of our most searched topics identified the most significant issues in the environmental and marine construction industries, including those most relevant to our company's operations. This leads us to the question: What were our industry's most frequently researched topics?

We've examined Brennan's most popular articles of the year -- let's count them down!

Our equipment safely navigates where barges can’t float and where ground equipment can’t trek. Brennan’s specialty amphibious trucks can float fully loaded with a 20-cubic yard payload or be configured to support geotechnical drilling equipment. See our equipment in action with this video! 

Island building and habitat restoration have significant environmental benefits, improving aquatic and land-based ecosystems. Working under LS Marine alongside Ramsey County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Saint Paul District, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Brennan built up islands at Pigs Eye Lake in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The project's master plan features seven islands, sand beaches, marsh habitat, and land plantings. We utilized dredged material from the Mississippi River in an environmentally beneficial way to build the islands. Here's how it happened and why it works!

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) signed a project agreement to remediate contaminated sediment in the “ponds behind Erie Pier,” two ponds surrounded by shallow marsh wetlands in the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC).

The sediment was primarily contaminated with PCBs, PAHs, mercury, and chromium. Here's how we worked with stakeholders to clean up the sediment and the resulting impact of our work.

Originally published by the Western Dredging Association (WEDA).

The Western Dredging Association (WEDA) presented its 2023 Environmental Excellence Award for Innovation to the Howards Bay Navigation and Cleanup Dredging Project, which is located within the St. Louis River Area of Concern (SLRAOC) in Superior, Wisconsin, and is an integral part of the Port of Duluth-Superior. J.F. Brennan Company (Brennan) partnered with Arcadis and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to work on the Howards Bay Remediation Project using innovative methods to secure a positive outcome.