Figure 2. The dredge William A. Thompson

ERDC TN-DOER-I4

August 2000

SPECIFICATIONS: Contract specifications have been developed to describe a process by which

the Corps and contractors can cooperate to implement the SI and perform their quality assurance

and quality control duties. The specifications: a) implement the SI design, b) meet the requirements

previously defined, and c) work within existing Corps contracting mechanisms. A Process Action

Team consisting of Corps and Dredging Industry members is reviewing these specifications.

Instrumentation vendors are providing input as well. Whenever appropriate, the specifications will

be revised to assure Corps SI users that everyone's concerns have been addressed. Pertinent

highlights of these specifications are summarized in the following sections.

Data Transfer. The National Marine Electronics Association 0183 data format will define how

the DSS and Ship Server should talk to each other. This standard's proprietary data sentence

structure is used to define custom dredging data strings for related data and for each dredge type.

This standardization can accommodate all of the previously mentioned requirements and can easily

be extended to handle unforeseen data-reporting requirements.

Data-reporting Performance. For each dredge type in the specifications, an overall perform-

ance clause tries to insure that the contractor's DSS not only meets the letter of the specifications

but also works as intended.

Dredge Plant Instrumentation Plan (DPIP). The contract specifications require the contractor

to submit a DPIP, which contains the extensive information about the dredge that the Corps needs

to perform its quality assurance role. Typical information in the DPIP includes the dredge

dimensions, sensor descriptions, sensor calibrations, and quality control procedures.

Inspector Tests. The specifications also detail some of the quality assurance tests that the

inspectors may conduct as part of their duties. This information informs the contractor of possible

occurrences that may detract from his productive working time. For example, to check the dredge's

production meter, the inspector may request the dredge to pump water for a time.

SI IMPLEMENTATION: With the cooperation of the St. Paul District, the dredge William A.

Thompson was used for an example

implementation of the Silent Inspector.

The Thompson is a 6.70-m (22-in.)

Corps pipeline dredge operated by the

St. Paul District (Figure 2). It works

for the Districts on the Upper Missis-

sippi River. Because the Thompson is

Corps-owned, contractual problems

could be avoided while any potential

problems with the system were

worked out. The following section dis-

cusses how the SI system was imple-

mented on the Thompson and presents

some early results.

Figure 2. The dredge William A. Thompson