At the crossroads of Europe, the ports of Antwerp, Oostende and Zeebrugge make a major contribution to Belgian economic prosperity. Preserving access to these vitally important gateways requires on ongoing effort. Channels and fairways must be maintained to the required depth.
What we do
Challenge
Solution
In a joint venture, DEME performs maintenance dredging along the access channels towards the Belgian coast and in the Flemish ports on behalf of the national authorities. We have actually carried out this important work from 1939 to the present day.
Our modern fleet and fully computerised dredging systems enable us to improve performance, efficiency, data monitoring, positioning and to fulfil strict environmental regulations.
Used technology
The tasks we carry out to maintain the accessibility include:
- Maintenance dredging works to guarantee access to the ports situated on the Belgian coast and to the navigational channels to the Dutch and Belgian ports on the River Scheldt.
- We maintain the navigational depth in the Scheurpas East-West channel, which gives access to the ports on the River Scheldt. About 10 million TDS (tonnes dry matter) have been dredged here annually with our trailing suction hopper dredger 'Artevelde'.