Keeping the channels open

摘要

In past centuries the problems for cargo vessels were mostly out at sea, but today's challenges are much nearer to shore, at the very entrances to ports and harbours. The building up of silt and sand at port entrances can be a natural consequence of traffic and tides, while the removal is essential for a smooth flow of waterborne commerce, by allowing vessels to enter and leave a harbour. Benefits of dredging can be manifold. Baggerw-erken Decloedt en Zoon NV, part of the Belgium-based DEME group, recently won a US$17.5 mil. contract to dredge the port entrance of Mar Del Plata in Argentina and restore sand to three of the city's tourist beaches.