exist to drop the main span purposely into the channel to prevent foreign 
intrusion, if necessary. The non-obstructed nature of the mouth of Tampa 
Bay has previously been considered a positive military advantage since 
the late 1890’s when Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders sailed out from 
the Tampa docks on their voyage to Santiago. 
Dredged Material 
Due to the inherent shallow nature of Tampa Bay, dredging and 
filling activities are critical to all port operations, including 
continual development of port facilities onshore and on bay fill sites, 
the creation of additional channels for navigation, and the routine 
maintenance of existing channels and berth spaces. These activities have 
resulted in the dredging of more than 100 million cubic yards of material 
for the creation of the large port infrastructure alone. The United 
States Geological Survey estimates that no less than 13 square miles of 
Tampa Bay has been lost to dredge and fill activity (TBRPC 1985) 
(Figure 2). This does not include dredged spoil volumes generated during 
recent channel maintenance. As a result of the last federal dredging 
project which just ended, that figure amounted to over 70 million cubic 
yards. Presently the Corps predicts that the removal of another several 
million cubic yards will be required by Fiscal Year 1989. (For an 
historical chronology of dredging and filling projects which have 
resulted in the present system of channels and fill sites, the reader is 
referred to Fehring 1985; Goodwin 1984; Lewis 1976; TBRPC 1985; USCOE 
1983). 
Fehring (TBRPC 1985) classified dredged material disposal 
strategies in Tampa Bay into five general areas: ocean dumping, estuarine 
open-water disposal, estuarine habitat-creation disposal, estuarine 
confined disposal, and upland confined disposal. The reader is referred 
to that publication for a thorough discussion of the benefits and 
problems associated with each type of disposal. For the sake of brevity 
here, estuarine disposal will be presented as a single topic. 
Estuarine disposal of dredged material is now strictly regulated 
by numerous governmental agencies through an elaborate permitting system 
(predominantly administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers 
and the State of Florida Department of Environmental Regulation). 
Unconfined estuarine disposal is no longer considered a viable method, 
due to water quality problems and the destruction of benthic habitat (see 
Lewis 1976; and previous papers in this report which address water 
quality, circulation, and biology). 
All three of Tampa Bay’s ports have evolved on dredged and filled 
coastal habitats. For example, although Port Manatee’s beginnings were 
conceived on highly altered coastal lands already used for agriculture, 
the spoil generated from dredging the basin and berthing slips was 
fortuitously placed waterward to create more land for port development 
(Figures 3 and 4). Related channel dredging resulted in a spoil island 
created from large rock and sand materials, while fines and sand were 
placed landward (discussed later). Even more dramatic is the filling 
174 
