This summer saw sweltering temperatures and raging storms that ignited wildfires and caused flooding around the world. Tropical storms drove fast-spreading wildfires on the island of Maui causing devastation and loss of lives. Typhoon Doksuri slammed into south-eastern China’s Fujian province displacing more than a million people. Black summer fires were among the worst in Australia’s history and Canada battled its worst-ever fire season. In Europe, thousands of people were evacuated as fires burned across Greece. In Spain, temperatures soared 15 degrees above normal values, Slovenia suffered heavy rain and devastating flooding, while Norway and Denmark were hit by severe storms. As the human-caused climate crisis accelerates, scientists are clear that extreme weather events will only become more frequent and more intense.
Signs of the market’s growth is encouraging. The Dredging in Figures 2022 report shows an increase in turnover compared to 2021 and the 2023 turnover is expected to be even higher. More and more equipment is being engaged on projects globally.
Companies within our industry are well aware of the need to conduct sustainable projects and investments in technology continue to be made with this goal in mind.
This issue of Terra et Aqua includes a host of articles all focused on the ways to create more sustainable solutions and infrastructure. In 2022, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) formulated ten recommendations that show the path towards the sustainable use of sand. IADC has taken these recommendations to heart and has elaborated from the perspective of the dredging industry on UNEP’S call to action and recommendation number 7, “Establish best practices and national standards, and a coherent international framework”. How the global dredging industry uses sand in a responsible manner is described in a new paper “Sand as a resource: Best practices to conduct responsible dredging projects”, published by IADC earlier this month. An article, adapted from this paper, can be found on page 18.
Technological advancements come from the body of research carried out across our industry and IADC was greatly saddened to learn of the death of Cees van Rhee this July. Since 2007, Cees was Professor of Dredging Technology at the Department of Maritime & Transport Technology at TU Delft in the Netherlands. A former employee of Van Oord, he had an unwavering sense for practical research that contributed to the efficiency of our industry. Cees was amiable, always easy to connect with and ever supportive of IADC activities. A frequent author and contributor of articles for Terra et Aqua, he published several articles over the years, the first back in 2002. On behalf of IADC, I would like to offer our deepest condolences to Cees’ family, friends and colleagues.
