Around the globe numerous dredging projects are being executed with one major objective – easy access for ships. This round-up of dredging projects can give you a pretty good idea that ports and terminals are positive about the future and that trade around the world will be picking up again – albeit slowly and carefully.
Africa
Back in 2009, Le Port Autonome de Douala in Cameroon awarded a dredging contract to Jan De Nul for the access channel in the port of Douala. Deepening of the channel from -5.5m to 8m followed by 4 years of maintenance dredging. The soil to be dredged (approximately 11 million cubic meters) is soft silt and fine sand. The company is also completing the dredging operations of the access channels in the port of Pointe-Noire, Congo.
Caribbean
It seems that contracts for dredging works in the Caribbean awarded to Jan De Nul are all coming to an end in 2013. The company has been working at the Kingston container terminal in Jamaica since 2012 on a maintenance dredging project of the western part of the Kingston Container Terminal achieving a depth of -14m.
Another contract that is nearing its end was awarded in 2009 by Autoridad del Canal de Panama ACP for the widening and deepening of the Atlantic Entrance & North Approach channel. The soil to be dredged is Atlantic muck and Gatun Rock.
The construction of a new port at Galeota is also continuing with a completion date of 2014. National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd awarded the contract for dredging of the access channel, reclaiming of future quay walls and construction of quay walls to Jan De Nul. The soil to be dredged is (silty) sand and soft rock.
Europe
There are two contracts in Germany that will be completed this year by Jan De Nul. The first one is the maintenance dredging of 2.5 million cubic meters in the Elbe in Hamburg and port accesses with transport to and disposal in the North Sea. The soil to be dredged is soft clay and silt.
The other contract is for the maintenance dredging works of the river Weser. The Weser is the approach to the port of Bremerhaven and Jan De Nul is deploying its trailing suction hopper dredgers Taccola and Alexander von Humboldt. The works are executed in joint venture with Heinrich Hirdes. During this 2 year maintenance dredging contract, a total volume of 14 million cubic meters of sand and silt will be dredged.
Associated British Ports (ABP) in Southampton, UK has recently awarded Dutch-dredging contractor Boskalis Westminster the contract to widen and deepen a critical part of the access channel to the container terminal operated by DP World Southampton. This follows the announcement in December 2012 that the Marine Management Organisation had issued the necessary consents to undertake the works. The removal of 450,000 cubic meters of material at Marchwood will widen the navigation channel by 30m, thus improving accessibility and manoeuvrability for container vessels. The importance of the work for the port was underlined by the speed in which Boskalis Westminster was able to reposition its dredger, the Manu Pekka, so that work could start immediately.
The Manu Pekka is a back-hoe dredger fitted with an eight cubic meter bucket which can dredge to a depth of 18.5m. Four barges were mobilised from as far away as Malmo, Sweden to Southampton to begin their task of ferrying the material dredged by the Manu Pekka to the licensed disposal site off the Isle of Wight.
“We are glad to be working back in Southampton for ABP again and very pleased to be associated with a relatively small but important part of the overall development,” said Paul Datson, Boskalis Westminster’s Head of Capital & Coastal Business Sector. “While this type of project is relatively straightforward, it involves a significant amount of equipment which we have been able to move to Southampton at short notice.”
“The channel widening at Marchwood is the latest part of ABP’s planned investment to further improve the port’s ability to receive the largest container vessels, and we are pleased that Boskalis Westminster has been able
to start work so quickly,” said Dave Herrod, ABP Engineering Project Manager.
Dredging works between Vlissingen and New Sealock at Wintam, on both the Dutch and Belgian territory, are executed by Jan De Nul by means of trailing suction hopper dredgers, cutter suction dredgers and a sweep beam. The soil to be dredged is sand (13 million cubic meters) and silt (1.5 million cubic meters).
Last year, Jan De Nul was also awarded a five-year maintenance dredging contract by the Flemish Government for dredging works by means of the hopper dredger Alexander von Humboldt in the Nortsea, the maritime access channel and in the ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge. The soil to be dredger is silt.
Jan De Nul is also working at the Western Outport of Dunkirk, France, where the construction of the port facilities for a future LNG terminal is well underway and will be completed this year. The work consists of dredging (approximately 5.5 million cubic meters), shore protection works, land reclamation and soil treatment by means of the cutter dredger ‘Ortelius’ and the hopper dredger ‘Pinta’. The soil to be dredged is sand.
One of the most challenging projects was executed by Dutch Aannemingsbedrijf Geluk by performing dredging work for Tiroler Wasserkraft AG (TIWAG), Austria. Geluk began work on a different dredging project for the same client that included the dredging of Lake Langental. The lake is accessed via a steep path with a gradient of 15%. Normally, only tourists visit the 2km high reservoir. Lake Langental is used by the Sellrain-Silz power station group. With an output of 781 megawatts, Sellrain-Silz is the most powerful power station in the east Alps region.
The large amounts of sand, gravel and silt from the mountains that are carried along by mountain rivers represent a threat to reservoirs and the turbines of hydro-electric power plants. Dredging of the lake was the only solution.
Far East
Capital dredging (approximately 1 million cubic meters) of very soft silty clay and clayey silt in the access channel and port basin by means of Jan De Nul’s TSHD ‘Sabastiano Caboto’will see the creation of Sittwe Port in Myanmar.
In Singapore the creation of new land at Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong on behalf of Surbana International Consultants is being executed by Jan De Nul. Construction of sub-sea berms, protection of berms by revetment works and filling behind berms by reclamation are all part of the works. The soil to be dredged is sand and clay.
In December 2012, Dutch-dredging contractor Van Oord was awarded a contract by PT PP (Persero) TBK for deepening the port and reclaiming land for a new terminal area in Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, the largest container port in Indonesia. The contract is part of the Kalibaru North Container Terminal Phase 1 Project, which will expand the port of Tanjung Priok by 4.5 million TEU. The client for the large port expansion is IPC, Indonesian Port Corporation. The entire project will take approximately three years to complete and provides a sustainable impetus for the economic growth of Indonesia. The contract value amounts to more than EUR 150 million. The dredging work will begin in the second quarter of 2013 and will be completed over the course of 24 months.
The Tanjung Priok project includes the deepening of the port, including expanding and deepening the access channel. A total of 25 million cubic meters of material will be moved. Most of the material will be pumped into closed basins adjacent to the new terminal for further expansion of the port. Approximately 10 million cubic meters of sand will be removed from the seabed in preparation for construction of the new terminal. Van Oord will be deploying trailing suction hopper dredgers, a cutter suction dredger and a backhoe.
Middle East
The Middle East Dredging Company (MEDCO), part-owned by Belgium-based Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering (DEME), continues to dredge for the New Doha Sea Port in Qatar. Construction of the port, which will be one of the deepest in the world and will cover an area of 26.5sqkm, will require approximately 45 million cubic meters of mainly hard rock to be dredged from a 20km-long approach channel and the basin itself.
South America
Back in 1995, Belgium-based Jan De Nul was awarded a deepening and maintenance dredging contract of the Rio Parana in Argentina by the Ministerio de Planificacíon Federal, Inversíon Pública y Servicios. The contract is for maintenance dredging of approximately 33 million cubic meters also included the modernisation and maintenance of navigational aids. The soil to be dredged is sand, silt and clay. The contract will end in 2021.
In Brazil, work on the new container terminal at Ilha Barnabé is taking shape. In 2008, Embraport – Empresa Brasileira – awarded a 5-year contract to Jan De Nul for dredging approx 5.5 million cubic meters and reclamation (approx 580,000 cubic meters) of contaminated soils, dredging and offshore dumping of berths, access and turning basin. The soil to be dredged is silt and sand.
The company is also executing maintenance dredging by means of hopper dredgers and clamshell of Piers I, II, III and IV of the marine terminal of Ponta Da Madeira used by mining-giant Vale to load their vessels with iron ore. The soil to be dredged is fine sand.
Last year, APM Terminals Callao SA awarded a contract to Jan De Nul for the dredging works of the access to Pier 5 and three berths for the modernisation of the Callao North Terminal. The soil to be dredged is soft and gravel. Completion of the project is scheduled for this year.