Dredging in the Port of Rotterdam Developments in optimal use of dredging and the associated activities

摘要

For construction as well as maintenance of new and existing harbours dredging operations are needed. In a large port situated at a coastline and at the estuary of a river, large amounts of material either have to be removed to create the necessary depth in the river and harbour sites or are needed for the development of new harbour sites. New or deep harbour basins are needed for a new generation of ships but also older harbour basins need to be filled to create room for either industry or city expansion. Maintaining a port is not only a question of removing the sediment at the right time at the correct position. Knowledge of the sediment, handling and treating of contaminated sediments, rules and regulations and economic factors are important elements in the maintenance strategy. These elements have influence on the costs and their direct relation underlines the importance of dredging with port related activities. Beside the economic aspect of dredging other aspects are also of importance. Matters like: re-use of available material, 1. decrease of use of primary material, 2. complex building within a small area, 3. the relation between the economical and technical life span, and 4. the combination of industrial port and nature developments. These factors give a new challenge in handling dredging on a new base. This paper describes the interaction of dredging, rules and regulations, economical as well as environmental developments in the port of Rotterdam and looks forward to future developments.