Achievements

Environmental Dredging in Winter

Services :

Harbour and Industrial Services :  Dredging

Marine Construction Contractors :  Marine Equipment Rental,

Never before seen on the Saint Lawrence during winter…
Gersol Construction, a general contractor specialised in environmental dredging, called on Ocean Group's dredging division to assist in removing the contaminated sediments which had accumulated on the marine floor.  These sediments caused interference with navigation and prevented ships from docking at the Kildair wharf, thus hindering their daily activities.  It became rather urgent to have the dredging work done.

The percentage of contamination of these sediments determined the level of precaution to be taken during the operations.  Movement of the clamshell bucket had to be slow and careful to reduce suspended solids to a minimum, which increased the risk of our equipment freezing over.

Our team demonstrated a great deal of resourcefulness and alertness because Mother Nature had more than one trick up her sleeve.  The intense cold created unusual challenges for this kind of project which is normally carried out during the summer months.  However, the operation was a great success thanks to our highly skilled team's know-how, notwithstanding the ice accumulation around the barges, the equipment freezing over, and the necessity for delicate manoeuvring of the hopper dredgers to minimize impacts with the ice.