Port construction

The expansion of global trade has led to an increase in maritime transport, along with the port facilities and access required to handle it. Many projects for the deepening of ports and access channels are combined with land reclamation projects. The use of dredged materials for port construction can also help to reduce the overall costs.

Growing economies have got one logistical characteristic in common: the expansion of their ports to meet the increasing trade volumes and size of the ships they cater for. Ports are an essential catalyst for economic growth and large infrastructure projects are being executed around the world to increase their capacities.

The Indian Government, for example, has pinpointed a number of ports as the focal point for ongoing strategic development. These locations are now being expanded to compete with renowned competing ports in other parts of the world. The Maasvlakte II project in The Netherlands is another example of this development. Wherever these projects take place, IHC Merwede vessels are to be found at work thanks to the company’s expertise in this sector.

Port construction projects are generally more demanding than maintenance jobs. They can’t be executed without such high quality and diverse dredging equipment as cutter suction dredgers and trailing suction hopper dredgers. Vessels such as the IHC Beaver® cutters and IHC Beagle hoppers are perfectly suited for this type of dredging work.

For example, the ports of Mundra and Tanggu were built using standard IHC Merwede cutter suction dredgers. However, in most cases the contractor would require large high-powered cutters or large high-capacity hoppers. Whatever the requirement, IHC Merwede has the equipment to suit the scale and budget of any type and size of port construction project.