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Understanding Dredging

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Young CEDA Seminar: Thames Dredging Opportunities

Perspectives from regulators, environmentalists, contractors and surveyors

A report by James Spragg, Environment Agency

Young-CEDA-2017-02-22 Thames Dredging End of February, the University College London (UCL) hosted a very interesting Dredging Seminar about the present opportunities for the dredging industry, with a particular focus on the River Thames. Despite London transport strikes, this afternoon’s seminar was well attended by a wide audience. Equal levels of participants ranging from students to experienced professionals, bringing a variety of related backgrounds listened to, and discussed, the 6 topics presented by our speakers. The Seminar also welcomed support and attendance of the Young CEDA Commission members.

The afternoon started hearing from the Keynote Speaker Dr. Ian Selby, The Crown Estate, who presented his case for the Crown Estate being a “global resource manager”. He reminded us of the scale and importance of marine aggregates, in relation to growth, at local and international levels. There was also a challenge for us to recognise our industries part to play on the UN’s sustainable development goals http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/.

Our keynote speaker was followed by two further presentations during the first session. Alex Mortley, Port of London Authority, spoke about the historical treasures and knowledge that can be discovered on the river bed as a consequence of dredging work, or which need to be protected from dredging works. Steve Massey, Land and Water, showed us the works that can be achieved in less accessible situations and he described the challenges he faced with the demolition of the Wandle Weir. The second session continued the theme with three more presentations following a break to network and make connections. David Middlemiss, HR Wallingford, described the modelling work undertaken to predict sediment transport during water injection and agitation dredging. Katherine Read, DEME, explained the understanding gained from the real time environmental monitoring carried out during the dredging works for the London Gateway Project. The conference ended with a presentation by Jeremy Littlejohn, Boskalis, who described the initiative of working together with the RSPB to create intertidal habitat, at Cliffe Pools, through the beneficial re-use of dredge materials.

Proof of the engagement at the conference came in the form of a tweet during the event “Having a lovely time at the @CEDAdredging seminar at UCL. Sand is a pretty big deal...”. Young CEDA would like to thank, our speakers, UCL, Port of London Authority, and Boskalis, for their help and contribution to a valuable and informative afternoon.

The presentations are available on the Young CEDA Meetings Presentations page of this website (it requires member login).

Photo: Dr. Ian Selby, The Crown Estate, concluding the presentation at the Young CEDA Thames Dredging Opportunities Seminar, Feb 2017.