A Dutch marine contractor are about to begin work on a Capital Dredging campaign at Dublin Port in order to create two new riverside berths.

As disclosed by Dublin Port Company, the contractor Van Oord, reports DredgingToday, intends to carry out loading and dumping at sea of dredged material arising from capital dredging as part of the MP2 Project over the period October to December 2022.

The MP2 Project (website) is as Afloat reported is the second Strategic Infrastructure Development Project to be brought forward for planning from Dublin Port’s Masterplan 2040, reviewed 2018. An Bord Pleanála granted Planning Permission for the MP2 Project on 1st July 2020 (ABP-304888-19).

The areas to be dredged during the 2022 campaign all lie within Dublin Port and comprise the creation of the new Berth 52 and Berth 53, and localised widening of the navigation channel in the vicinity of the Poolbeg Oil Jetty.

The dredged material – consists of a mixture of clay, silt, sand, gravel and cobbles – will be disposed of at the existing licensed offshore disposal site located at the entrance to Dublin Bay to the west of the Burford Bank, (6.75 km from the lighthouse at the end of the Great South Wall).

Dredging will be carried out using a combination of a backhoe dredger and a trailer suction hopper dredger together with support vessels.