Why Dredge?

Everything we do affects our environment. How much water we use, the amount of energy we consume, our transport choices, and even the types of food we eat. If we want to conserve our precious environment and prevent the wide-reaching effects of climate change, then we must make smarter choices together.

Caring for our environment. (2019). Retrieved December 9, 2019, from https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/caring-our-environment.

We depend on waterways such as rivers, lakes and harbours for everything from transporting goods to commercial fishing and recreation. Over time, these waterways can become filled with sand, silt and debris — or sediment — that make them difficult to navigate and sometimes pose an environmental hazard. Dredging provides a host of benefits for construction projects, marine projects, and mining projects.

Dredging can be a critical process for the commercial shipping industry. Removing sediment can maintain the appropriate width and depth for enabling the safe, unobstructed passage of cargo vessels carrying oil, raw materials, and other essential commodities.

Dredging is a critical underwater excavation step in many waterways construction projects such as bridges, docks, piers and underwater tunnels.

Sediment removal is sometimes used as a source of materials for land-building projects. The liberated sediment can then be dried out and transported to a new location where additional land is required for building and other purposes.

Sediment removal can help to restore a shoreline or beachfront to its original condition by reversing the effects of soil erosion.

Dredging can clean up a waterway after a toxic material spill or via the removal of trash, debris, decaying vegetation, sludge or other materials that can contaminate water and soil.

Dredging can produce a healthier aquatic eco-system that can result in a more suitable habitat for fish and other wildlife. It can also be used for trash and debris removal to keep the waterways clean.

Water bodies located near urban areas and industrial complexes can quickly become a receptacle for various pollutants. Sediment removal can prevent the accumulation of pollutants and keep the waterway clean and healthy.

Eutrophication is an excessive amount of nutrients in a water body typically caused by water runoff from the surrounding land. Eutrophication can lead to an overabundance of plant growth that results in oxygen deprivation and can cause the death of aquatic wildlife. In some cases, dredging may be the most viable remediation option when eutrophication occurs.

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