Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure, a new holistic approach
Matters Beyond Money
For the vast majority of dredging’s history, there has been an almost exclusive focus on the economic benefits generated by infrastructure. Within the last 50 years, environmental and social factors have been increasingly incorporated into the decision-making and governance process, a shift regarded to be a relatively recent development. Also occurring during the last few decades, significant technological and operational advancements have improved the dredging process to reduce its impact on the environment.
Sustainability Drives Dredging
As a result of this present-day progress, an optimised way to increase the overall sustainability of the water infrastructure sector has emerged. A project’s proponents, dredging contractors and relevant stakeholders invest time and energy at the beginning of a project’s timeline to identify ways to boost its value by addressing sustainability’s essential pillars: economic, environmental and social. With all three aspects considered, infrastructure’s ability to generate economic benefits will not be diminished. On the contrary, opportunities to create additional economic value will be revealed. Early efforts are spent to identify and develop socially-oriented enhancements for recreational, educational and community resilience purposes as well as environmentally-minded prospects related to ecosystem services, habitat and natural resources. This approach will benefit dredging and infrastructure projects by avoiding unnecessary conflicts with stakeholders while simultaneously developing a larger number of project proponents, advocates and partners. A foundation comprised of three principles intends to inform the development of sustainable infrastructure while firmly supporting the aforementioned triad of sustainability pillars.
Principles Support Pillars
Among the trinity of principles, the first is a comprehensive analysis of the social, environmental and economic costs and benefits of a project. Dredging is just one facet of an infrastructure project, with its elements functioning as part of a larger network which engages with a surrounding ecosystem. Therefore, to understand a project’s complete set of costs and benefits requires a system-scale view of the infrastructure as well as its provided functions and services.
The second measure involves improvements to the dredging process by conserving resources, maximising efficiency and increasing productivity as well as extending the useful lifespan of assets and infrastructure. Innovations in technology, engineering and operational practices can reduce fuel and energy requirements and so forth within the dredging process and eventual operation of the infrastructure.
Of utmost importance, all-inclusive stakeholder engagement and partnering is called upon to enhance a project’s value. Stakeholder commitment plays an important, even critical role, in the governance of infrastructure projects. The elevated level of investment and sophistication employed in the collaborative process directly contributes to the degree of success achieved at every stage.
Upgrading Dredging Knowledge
Back in 2008, the International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) and Central Dredging Association (CEDA) joined forces to create and release Environmental Aspects of Dredging, a book presenting the effects of dredging activities on ecological systems and ways to minimise the impacts. As the concepts of sustainability continuously evolve, the demand for a revised publication encompassing the current holistic approach became paramount, and will be presented in Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure.
The dredging community aspires to realise projects which fulfil their primary functional requirement while adding value to natural and socio-economic systems. This can only be accomplished once a thorough understanding of these complexities in combination with the proactive engagement of stakeholders is acquired. By providing imperative guidance, this book strives to make this a possibility throughout the dredging professional community, from project proponenets to consultants, contractors and manufacturers. The publication aims to help professionals and stakeholders navigate the interrelated complexities involved in the development of coasts, harbours, ports. Case studies demonstrate the approach and implementation of the presented method.
An initiative of IADC and CEDA and written by a team of top experts, the book Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure will be available in 2018.