Benefits

Berth Availability

You can’t offload a ship if it’s sitting offshore. Yet, when you have to dredge a berth the ship may have to wait. When a berth shoals, ships may be forced to arrive or leave with a partial load. During no-dredge environmental time windows, shoaling may become so bad that ships need to anchor off site and lighter their cargo to and from your dock.

With a SedCon® Turbo System, your berth stays at full depth allowing higher thru-put for your dock and greater profits for your company. The image shows how one of our systems has eliminated dredging for more than 10 years at a site that used to shoal more than 12 ft/yr.

Cost Savings

Let’s face it, dredging is expensive and becoming more so all the time. Dredge permitting is difficult and takes an increasing amount of staff time. At best, shoaling is an inconvenience. At worst, it can shut down your entire dock operation. Either way, it’s a cost burden that impacts your bottom line.

A SedCon® Turbo System will stop shoaling in your berth and eliminate the need for dredging. Many of our systems pay for themselves in just three to four years. With a SedCon® Turbo System, your berth will function at full depth and full capacity at all times.

"We are saving about a million dollars a year in dredging costs."
Joe Bryant, South Carolina State Ports Authority

Risk Management

Relying on maintenance dredging to solve your shoaling problem places your dock’s operations at risk.

Dredging companies come and go and are sometimes unavailable when you need them... at least at a reasonable cost. If access to a nearby dredge disposal area is lost, dredging costs can rise, sometimes dramatically. A changing regulatory environment makes future dredge permitting uncertain.

With a SedCon® Turbo System, shoaling is eliminated along with dredging-related operational risks. You’ll see a more stable cost structure and a more predictable operating environment for your dock.

Reduced Impact

Monitoring has shown that SedCon® Turbo System are much less impacting to the marine environment than maintenance dredging. Maintenance dredging causes increased water turbidity, destruction of benthic organisms and habitat, and filling/destruction of wetland areas.

With a SedCon® Turbo System, water turbidity remains unchanged since no sediment is added to the water column. Benthic organisms flourish since the mud bottom is left undisturbed. And, the lifetimes of disposal areas are prolonged since your berth no longer needs to be dredged.

The image shows heavy turbidity being released during maintenance dredging.