The very short execution time of only 10 months for the project has seen the mobilisation of the largest joint fleet of cutter suction dredgers ever deployed – including 21 cutter suction dredgers and five trailing suction hopper dredgers from various places around the globe. Also large stocks of pipelines (around 80km in length), anchors, pick points and earth moving equipment were needed, as well as accommodation on site for around 1,800 people at work, by means of accommodation vessels.
The project included the dredging of a new parallel canal that is 35km long and 24m deep and part of the larger 72km Suez Canal Expansion project that also included deepening and widening other sections of the Suez Canal.
The NVBJ consortium – consisting of National Marine Dredging Co (UAE), Van Oord (the Netherlands), Royal Boskalis (the Netherlands) and Jan de Nul (Belgium) – achieved a record-breaking dredging production of more than 1.4m cubic meters [per day] of sand and gravel.
Late last year, under Egyptian army supervision, local companies began work to level a top layer as high as 20 metres down to a height of 1m above sea level.