Arklow Harbour Contaminated Dredging

Backhoe dredging of 60,000t of contaminated material from Arklow Harbour and disposal of material under a dump at sea licence in 1.5km off shore in the Irish Sea using a dig, dump and cover method. To facilitate the disposal a 175x175m pit was excavated up to 22m below low water using a 120t backhoe. The pit was recovered with 2m of sand using a 3,000t 80m trailing suction hopper dredger. Harbour works were constrained by restricted access and tight environmental constraints. The works at the disposal pit were subject to rough seas and fast currents up to 5 knots.

Keywords

marine, dredging, hazardous, contaminated, backhoe, coastal, harbour, Wicklow, cutter suction, dump at sea, environment