San Juan Submarine Cable Route
DEA was tasked by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) with developing a program for a comprehensive study of an eight-mile corridor between Lopez Island and Anacortes, Wash., to determine the optimum route for a new undersea power cable.
An integrated data acquisition system delivered the information for the bathymetric, geophysical, oceanographic and utility location studies. The mapping of eel grass on four landing sites (Lopez Island, West Decatur Island, East Decatur Island, and Fidalgo Head) was accomplished with side-scan sonar imagery ground-truthed by video imagery along the proposed route.
Additional information for the proposed route was provided by a desktop study of cultural data, commercial traffic patterns, historical disposal and munition sites, and environmentally sensitive areas including wildlife refuges and eel grass beds.
Project Awards
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2001 Grand Award, ACEC
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2001 Honor Award, CECO