Such was the enthusiasm and quality of the response to the Call for Papers that the conference has been extended to two and half days.
The new date is: 2-4 November 2005

Introduction

It is not uncommon for dredging projects to achieve something extraordinary, or help to do this. They may have to meet extreme requirements or be undertaken in extreme environments - whether physical or regulatory. The extremes are found in many different areas and on different levels including dredging soft silt or excavating of hard rock; using trailing suction hopper dredgers ranging in size from less than 100 m3 to over 30,000 m3; dredging diamonds off the coast of Namibia.

Dredging diamonds is extreme in various ways, the dredger being a crawler is that placed on the seabed at depth over one hundred metres, while its valuable product, diamonds, is less than 10-4 percent of the dredged volume.

The creation of the ‘Palms and the World’, in Dubai, the largest man-made islands in the world, was certainly an extraordinary operation.

Just as operations in space contribute to terrestrial advance, dredging operating in extreme conditions can contribute to mundane dredging operations.

Our society continues to present new challenges to the dredging industry, forcing it to look for advances in accuracy, environmental safety, cost effectiveness and increased robustness of dredging plant and processes under severe weather and/or sea-state conditions. The responses to these challenges require novel, smart approaches, innovation, progressive improvement and the development of specialized dredging equipment and techniques.

CEDA Dredging Days 2005 will look at the extremes. It will present a state-of-the-art review of demand and of supply. The aim is to discuss and share ideas and to initiate the exchange of experience and technology.