Stages of a Navigation Project Life Cycle

A navigation project evolves from a conceptual plan to a rehabilitation or abandonment at the end of its life cycle. The various phases of the life cycle are: planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance, and rehabilitation and restoration of impacted habitat. The planning phase of a navigation project includes the determination of economic benefit, environmental impacts, the cost of alternatives, and the recommended plan. The design phase starts with the development of an overall project design that is more detailed than the recommended plan in the feasibility report. This design and cost estimate includes any structures, channel dredging, bank protection, relocations, and environmental features. The project is often accomplished by several contractors with coordination and adherence to plans and specifications by an independent construction management team. The objective of ecosystem restoration is to restore degraded ecosystem structure, function, and dynamic processes to a less degraded, more natural condition.