Dredging solutions abundant in Rotterdam

Nearly 250 members of the dredging community gathered in Rotterdam last November for CEDA Dredging Days, which ran concurrently with the Europort exhibition.

Dredging professionals, young, established and expert, assembled to exchange the latest ideas, knowledge and best practice, at a packed event. In keeping with CEDA’s remit, papers were of a high technical and there were plenty of opportunities for delegates to network with their peers.

Anna Csiti, general manager of CEDA and a member of the programme committee said: “This is always an important event for CEDA members, and the dredging community, and this occasion has been no exception. There was a real buzz at the event. The conference rooms were packed, the exhibition floor was busy, and there was a really good crowd. We are very pleased with how CEDA Dredging Days 2015 has gone.”

Highlights of the conference sessions included an informative keynote speech by Tiedo Vellinga, Professor of Ports and Waterways, Delft University of Technology and Director Environmental Monitoring Maasvlakte 2 - Port of Rotterdam, who kicked off the event with a discussion on implementing sustainable design solutions in port development.

In a featured presentation Gerard van Raalte of Hydrodynamic and Ida Brøker of DHI, chairs of the CEDA working groups on Adaptive Environmental Management and Environmental Monitoring respectively, highlighted the main messages of the two closely related CEDA papers on the subject.

“It’s amazing how quickly the concept adaptive management is finding its way in the profession, said Gerard van Raalte. “What is needed now is guidance on how to apply it”.

In a lively and highly engaging session, working on the fictitious dredging case of the City of Loof, designed to mirror real-life challenges, the audience explored what makes a dredging project sustainable.

The International Association of Dredging Companies’ (IADC) Young Authors’ Award was given to Rudy Helmons of the Delft University of Technology for his paper entitled ‘Modelling the effect of water depth on rock cutting processes with the use of discrete elemental method’.

As part of the programme, young professionals were treated to the Young CEDA Pitch Talks. Chaired by A de Heer of Witteveen+Bos and chairman of Young CEDA, the session impressed everyone. With an eye on the future of the dredging profession, 60 promising graduate and post-graduate delegates were given funding to attend the event as part of the Young CEDA Student Programme.

In addition to encouraging young entrants to the industry, CEDA Dredging Days is widely considered to be an invaluable forum for leading researchers and industry experts to discuss and share dredging challenges, solutions and experiences. Dredging and the management of sediments are key elements in the sustainable development and operation of most ports. By focussing on innovative dredging solutions for ports, CEDA Dredging Days 2015 has gone some way to furthering the debate.

To complement the technical programme, the exhibition floor was a busy place during the session breaks and enjoyed by both delegates and exhibitors alike. “We made lots of new contacts here”, said exhibitor Markus Uhle, of admodus Maritime Devices.

This year’s technical visit was to two project sites of the Dutch Water Programme ‘Room for the River’ at Overdiep and Munnikenland. Pieter de Boer from the Rijkswaterstaat, and experts from the waterboards and contractors were on hand to explain the various solutions used to protect people and land from extreme flooding while improving the overall environmental quality in the river region.

The conference proceedings, including all presented papers, are available from the CEDA Secretariat (€ 95 for CEDA Members and € 129 for non-members). From mid-December, CEDA members gained free access to all papers through the CEDA website: www.dredging.org (Click Resources > CEDA publications online > Conference Proceedings).