TSHD Sospan Dau Completes Cardiff Harbor Maintenance Dredging

Trailing suction hopper dredger Sospan Dau of Boskalis Westminster’s has been busy in carrying out the winter maintenance dredging program for the Cardiff Harbor Authority this January.

The works began in early January, and for the past three weeks, the dredging vessel MV Sospan Dau – cooperated with the MV Avanti and Tioga B – has been conducting dredging works in Cardiff Bay Barrage Outer Harbor and the approach channel.

The Cardiff Bay Barrage was finished in 1999 to create an impounded water body as the centerpiece for the regeneration of the area.

A lock system, which contains three locks and an inner harbor, was incorporated into the scheme to provide marine access to the impounded bay at all states of the tide.

The entrance to the locks is located at the mouth of the River Severn and is prone to high rates of siltation. In order to maintain navigable access to the locks, maintenance dredging is required twice a year.

The environmental conditions in the Marine Management Organization license restrict dredging works to the start of the year and August.