The latest round of dredging work is now underway at Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour Marina.
The work is part of the council’s ongoing programme of improvement work at the harbour and will be complete by mid April. Amongst the areas being tackled are the western outer marina, western breakwater, commercial jetty, the travel hoist, fuel facility, fishermen’s slipway, the base of number one slipway and around the East Pier.
Dredging has also been carried out around the site of the new breakwater pontoon in the East outer marina, which will be used by wind farm support vessels, bringing in new income to the marina and port.
Dredging is also taking place between number one and two berths in the port for the installation of two new pontoons, which will service London Array’s workboats.
Two dredgers have been used to carry out the work. The first is a grab dredger, which uses a clam shaped grab from a hydraulic arm to move material. This has been supported by a water injection dredger, which injects large volumes of water under low pressure into the seabed to move sediment away in natural currents, which has now finished its work.
Harbourmaster Robert Brown said: “The latest round of dredging work is a combination of an ongoing programme of improvements and regular maintenance of the marina and port. The winter weather has brought in large volumes of sand around port control and this in the process of being removed using grab dredging. Dredging is an ongoing task, which ensures that we can operate to the best of our ability.”
An Environmental Impact Assessment is also being carried out to look at the effectiveness of the work and to ensure that it has minimal impact on the environment. This assessment is being funded by a European Interreg programme called PATCH, which stands for Ports Adapting to Change. This aims to diversify port operations by developing new maritime activities and markets and help strengthen cross-border cooperation and efficiency between the ports.
Ramsgate is one of seven ports involved in the programme, which also involves Portsmouth and Newhaven on this side of the Channel, Oostende and Zeebrugge in Belgium , Calais in France and Zeeland Seaports in the Netherlands
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