Port of Rio Grande dredging removes over 2 mln cubic metres of sediments

Portos RS port authority completed, on Jan 9, the maintenance dredging of the access channel to the Port of Rio Grande. The work was executed by the consortium formed by the companies Jan de Nul do Brasil and Van Ord with the aid of dredgers HAM 318 and Lelystad to remove 2,850,000 cubic metres of sediments.

The first step following the signing of the service order on Nov 18 was to carry out a hydrographic survey of the channel to identify the places with the highest volume of sediment accumulation responsible for the silting up of the waterway.

Such action allowed dredging to occur effectively and assertively in restoring the depth necessary for safe navigation, supporting efficient port activity in the context of the Rio Grande Organized Port Complex.

The TSHD HAM 318 dredger tackled the stretch between the first pair of buoys in the outer channel and the Container Terminal (Tecon), removing 2,500,000 cubic metres of sediment. The TSHD Lelystad dredge removed 350,000 cubic metres between the access channel and the Porto Novo berths. The dredger Lelystad kept working until January 9th, when it reported the conclusion of the service. A final hydrographic dredging survey confirmed the success of the project.

According to Lucas Meurer, the director of infrastructure at Portos RS, maintenance dredging was prioritized throughout 2022 so that the service could be completed swiftly and enhance navigation safety. “The board saw [the dredging] as 2022’s most important task to be accomplished. More than R$ 100 million were invested, with funds coming directly from the port’s resources and a bidding process, all centralized in the Public Company’s new structure,” said Meurer.

Completing the work brings two immediate benefits to the Public Company’s director of operations, Romildo Bondan: the maintenance of the draft of the commercial quay and the possibility of revising the draft of the entire port complex. “Once the dredging service is completed, we will wait for the bathymetry so that we can conduct these analyses with the numbers,” Romildo added. He also stated that the second stage of dredging services is already budgeted for 2023.

According to Henrique Ilha, director of environmental affairs at Portos RS, the process was monitored closely. The results prove that the decisions were based on solid technical terms, such as the appropriate oceanic dump site and large, high-performance dredgers. “Though that, Portos RS was able to comply with what it had planned, which is to do smaller dredging operations every year and take all environmental precautions,” added him.

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