ERDC/CHL CHETN-IX-5
September 2001
Monitoring Completed Navigation
Projects Program
by Robert R. Bottin, Jr.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Monitoring Completed Navigation Projects (MCNP) Program.
The program was formerly known as the Monitoring Completed Coastal Projects Program, but
was modified in the late 1990s to include all navigation projects, inland as well as coastal.
OVERVIEW: The MCNP Program evaluates the performance of completed civil works
navigation projects. Its objective is to obtain information for verifying, or improving, navigation
project performance. Monitoring is conducted to (a) determine if the project is functioning as
designed, (b) improve design procedures, (c) improve construction methods, and (d) improve
operations and maintenance techniques.
Shallow- and deep-draft navigation projects located in rivers, reservoirs, lakes, estuaries, and the
coastal zone may be considered for monitoring in the MCNP Program. Monitoring may be
conducted as either a comprehensive detailed survey to verify postconstruction conditions on a
one-time basis, or a continuous (repetitive) collection of prototype data over an extended period.
The MCNP Program can only fund monitoring for completed projects operated and/or
maintained by the Corps. Projects must be related to navigation, or mitigation for navigation, to
be monitored by the program.
Monitoring of selected projects under MCNP is funded by Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (HQUSACE), from the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) appropriation.
HQUSACE has overall responsibility for the program, and the Coastal and Hydraulics
Laboratory (CHL), U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) provides for
day-to-day technical accomplishment and management of the MCNP Program.
Nominations of projects for the MCNP Program are requested by HQUSACE when funds are
available for the monitoring of additional projects. Solicitations are sent to Division offices,
which solicit and receive nominations from their Districts. Nominated projects are ranked by
HQ-established criteria and then prioritized by a Field Review Group during program reviews.
Final selections for the program are made at HQUSACE based upon the priority listing, national
priorities, and available funds. The regulation governing the MCNP Program is ER 1110-2-8151
(USACE 1997). Monitoring is accomplished as a cooperative effort between ERDC and the
District in which the project is located.
MONITORED SITES: Thirty-two project sites have been monitored through the MCNP
Program to date, as shown in Figure 1. These projects include coastal sites on the Atlantic,
Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes' coasts as well as projects in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam,
and Puerto Rico. In addition, since 1999 the performance of inland navigation projects such as
locks, dams, and riverine training structures have been monitored. In general, hydrodynamics
1
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