Award for 5.5 kilometres of quay wall in Dubai

Van Oord has been awarded a 5.5 km quay wall on the Deira Islands in Dubai. Van Oord already received the award for a 3.5 km quay wall for the same project. This order will bring the total on the Deira Islands to approximately 9 km. Three rock-instalment pontoons will be deployed. The project will run for 65 weeks and the contract value is approximately EUR 60 million. The Deira Islands are, just like Palm Deira, part of the Deira Developments, the largest land reclamation project in the world.

Thimarafushi Airport project facing delays due to reclamation

The delay in the commencement of the airport project in Thimarafushi island of Thaa atoll is due to the delays in the completion of the ongoing land reclamation of the island, Transport and Communications Minister Mohamed Saeed has said. The Minister made the statement speaking at the Majlis last Wednesday. Minister informed that preparatory work for the commencement of the reclamation work is currently underway. Minister said such works as designing of the airport and surveys necessary for the Environment Impact Assessment Report is underway. Maldives Airports Investments Company on the 20 th of February this year contracted out reclamation of land necessary for the construction of Thimarafushi airport to a Korean company. Minister revealed that in order to commence the work, design of the runway, apron, taxi- way and other associated side plans have been submitted to the ministry for approval. Minister said the implementation stage of the project will commence once EIA has been completed. The agreement to construct the Thimarafushi airport was signed on 31 July 2007.

Award of two projects in United Kingdom

Van Oord has been awarded two projects on the east coast of England for the UK Environment Agency. The first is the Happisburgh to Winterton Sea Defence Project which is worth approximately EUR 9 million. This is a continuation of previous works that have been undertaken by Van Oord at this location for over 10 years. The execution will start in September 2008 and is scheduled for completion in December 2008. The workscope includes 280,000 m3 of beach recharge and the building and refurbishment of rock groynes and revetments. Trailing suction hopper dredger Geopotes 15 will be deployed for this project after having been fitted with screens to ensure the required beach material grading is achieved. The second awarded project is at Jaywick, near Clacton. The contract value amounts to some EUR 13 million. Work starts in September 2008 and is scheduled for completion by the end of the year. The project involves construction of a 185 m long offshore breakwater (including 40,000 tonnes of rock), 250,000 m3 of beach nourishment and an outfall extension (150 m). Suction Dredger Sliedrecht 27 will be deployed as a booster station for the beach nourishment works.

Blue Wedges to be sued following failed Melbourne legal challenge

The Australian newspaper reports that Australia's Environment Minister Peter Garrett has confirmed he will pursue costs against the Blue Wedges protest group over its failed legal challenge to the dredging of Melbourne's shipping channel. Said the report: "The move threatens to bankrupt the anti-dredging group, but Mr Garrett has said the Commonwealth must pursue the hundreds of thousands owed to taxpayers from the case." "The Government has an obligation to pursue debts under the Financial Management Act and that is the basis on which we are acting at the moment," a spokesman for the minister said. The Brumby Government and the Port of Melbourne, which also won their costs after Blue Wedges's legal challenge was thrown out by the Federal Court, said they had not decided whether to enforce the costs order. Both parties actively pursued an order for costs during the case. Federal Court judge Tony North ordered Blue Wedges to pay its opponents' costs on Tuesday after finding its legal challenge to the A$1 billion dredging project was not strong nor novel enough to warrant sparing them the usual obligation for losing parties to pay. "There are no sufficient special circumstances which would justify departure from the general rule and the respondents are entitled to an order that the applicants pay their costs," Justice North said.

BP Pantura resuming reclamation

Experts and environmentalists have demanded the Jakarta Waterfront Development Board abort its plan to resume a reclamation project, citing the plan's environmental and economic risks. Urbanologist Yayat Supriyatna, from Trisakti University, said Thursday the controversial project could not be carried out until it is approved in the State Ministry for the Environment's environmental impact analysis. The Water Development Board, BP Pantura, works under the auspices of the Jakarta administration. "The administration cannot recommence the project based on the environmental impact analysis issued solely by the Jakarta environmental management board (BPLHD)," Yayat said. "The one issued by the State Ministry for the Environment is the most important," he added. BPLHD head Budirama Natakusumah was not available for comment. Yayat said the project must stop, as it would create "instability" in coastal areas in North Jakarta and the Thousand Islands regency. "Developers, who run the project, prefer to save their properties and rake in huge profits from the project, instead of conserving the environment," he added. At least 10 investors have signed a memorandum of understanding with the administration to complete the Rp 20 trillion (US$2.19 million) project, which involves reclamation of some 2,700 hectares of land on the north coast. The investors are PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, PT Kapuk Naga Indah, PT Taman Harapan Indah, PT Bakti Bangun Era Mulia, PT Muara Wisesa Samudra, BPL Pluit, PT Jaladri Kartika Ekapasi, PT Manggala Krida Yudha, PT Dwi Marunda Makmur and Kawasan Berikat Nusantara, according to the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi Jakarta). The reclaimed land is to be used for the construction of luxury houses, hotels, condominiums, an industrial zone, a port, business centers, shopping malls, offices and recreational areas. The project, expected to take 30 years to complete, is set to resume, with Kapuk Naga Indah processing all the licenses needed to build one of the three islands also planned, according to BP Pantura executive director Amin Cakra Amidjaja. Kosasih Wirahadi Kusumah, of PT Kapuk Naga Indah, was not available for confirmation. Hydrologist Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, from the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, said he had found BP Pantura used "obsolete software" for the project's feasibility studies, "to convince all stakeholders that the project is environmentally safe". Walhi Jakarta executive director Selamet Daroyni said there would be greater chaos in the city as a result of the project. "The reclamation project will reduce the quality of the surrounding environment. Floods in Jakarta will never end and the impact of global warming will be much worse, while the sea level will continue to rise," he said. "Look at the consequences of another reclamation project: Pantai Mutiara residence housing complex and the Muara Baru area (both in North Jakarta) had never been flooded, not until February this year, when both areas had floodwaters of up to 70 centimeters." BP Pantura and the investors did not have any legal grounds to resume the project, as the Supreme Court is still examining an appeal by the ministry and has yet to hand down a final verdict, which should determine the future of the project, he added.

Nakheel begins reclamation of Mina Rashid

Trade Arabia News Service reports that Nakheel, the developer based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has begun reclamation work for the US$599 million Mina Rashid project. The work include the construction of a breakwater and shore protection. A total of approximately 86 million cubic metres of sand will be dredged, reclaiming 540 hectares of new land. Nakheel design and planning managing director Abdulrahman Kalantar made a call on his mobile phone to Seaway, a Boskalis trailer suction hopper dredger vessel, to initiate the reclamation work. Representatives from joint venture Dredging International – Boskalis Westminster Middle East, who are responsible for the reclamation, were also present.