4,000 Oyster Shells

[Dreadnaught]

At work today, I stumbled on something right as it went viral. The US Army Corps of Engineers is looking for a Few Good Men to provide them with no fewer than 4,000 oysters shells that have been shucked, air-dried for 30 days and delivered to North Carolina.

Do you have what it takes? Can you guess what they are for? Prizes for the winner who can guess without cheating/Googling!

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportun...=core&_cview=0

From the Scope of Work:

SCOPE OF WORK
Oyster Shells for Wanchese 204

The contractor shall provide and delivery 4,000 bushels of oyster shells that has been shucked and air dried for at least 30 days upon delivery. Shucking date must be provided.

2. Delivery Location: Oyster shells are to be delivered and unloaded at the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) oyster staging area Monday-Friday during the hours of 9:00am – 4:30pm at the following address:

Wanchese Industrial Park, 604 Harbor Road, Wanchese NC 27981

3. The specific placement of the oyster shells will be directed by the NC Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) shell staging area representative. POC Mr. Greg Allen at DMF's Wanchese office at (252) 473-5734, ext. 231 or Greg.Allen@ncmail.net.

4. Delivery Date: The first 1,000 bushels of oyster shells shall be delivered as soon as possible but not later than August 1, 2012. The remainder should be delivered as soon as possible but no later than August 27, 2012.

5. Government Point of Contact: Contact the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District point of contact (POC) listed below – at least 2 work days before delivery.

In case you're interested, it looks like they were willing to pay $4 million for 'em. Got any oysters?

[Veldan Rath]

Jesus...why do I have a nagging suspicion I should know this?

[Nessus]

Does this have something to do with that movie with Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes?

[GGT]

Are they going to use them for making flood water breaks?

[Flixy]

I'm guessing something environmental. Erosion or pollution?

I did learn yesterday that cat hairs are used to clean up oil spills and are collected at cat's hair salons.

[GGT]

Cat hair salons? aww They also collect human hair and pack it in panty-hose type material, to make oil booms.

[Flixy]

Same thing, but I was watching animal planet while hungover Some people deserve a claw to the face for the way they dress up their pets though.

[Dreadnaught]

I'm actually really curious why the bid limit was eliminated. If they actually spend $4 million for 4,000 oyster shells, that means the government is paying $1000 per oyster shell.

All of this is to maintain/re-build some ecology around the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which is an interesting place: http://goo.gl/maps/Fst4

They want to use the shells for an oyster bed. Sort of like other efforts to build artificial reefs.

[Wraith]

It's bushels of oyster shells.

[Flixy]

It's bushels of oyster shells.

Hush, it's easier to make fun of government spending when you don't read properly.

[Dreadnaught]

I wasn't criticizing this.

Sometimes you read these things so fast you miss the key part.

1.4 million cubic meters of oyster shells for $4 million seems slightly more reasonable and useful.

[Aimless]

I wasn't criticizing this.

You should have been, if you believed it was 1000 per shell

[Catgrrl]

Dang, I knew the answer to this

The place I used to work for collected shucked oyster shells from local seafood restaurants for projects like these. Though they didn't get paid $4 million for it; they did get grant money for it I believe.

[Dreadnaught]

You should have been, if you believed it was 1000 per shell

I was witholding judgement until the actual contract was awarded.

But overall, these kinds of government efforts can yield some pretty neat results. New York has been sending its subways to be used to create several large artificial reefs. It's a nice way to recycle them if they aren't going to scrap 'em:

http://robcroxford.blogspot.com/2012...bway-reef.html

Though the program is ending to save money for pensions for unionized state employees.