New Suez Canal: A Dredging Triumph

Never before has so much equipment been deployed on a dredging project as during the expansion of the Suez Canal. Never have the time pressures on a project been so enormous, and never has there been a project with such high production volumes. Over one million cubic meters of material was dredged daily.

The new Suez Canal was completed in record time thanks to several consortia from the global dredging scene. In just nine months, the 193-kilometre-long canal has been extended with a parallel waterway and deepened entirely over a length of 70 kilometers. This has reduced the 14-hour waiting time by half. 

Egypt signed contracts with six international companies to carry out the work:

•    National Marine Dredging Company of the United Arab Emirates 
•    Royal Boskalis Westminster and Van Oord, both based in the Netherlands 
•    Jan de Nul Group and Deme Group, both of Belgium and 
•    U.S.-based Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company.