It is appropriate that shifting the event to an annual basis should kick off in Casablanca as dredging plays a primary role in the construction and maintenance of port infrastructure in North Africa.

The silting up of some regional ports is so severe that further economic and social development cannot proceed without dredging.

The main objective of the conference, as ever, is to promote the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of dredging amongst the researchers and professionals from the industrial, academic and governmental representations within CEDA.

A rich and varied programme of technical papers will be presented, including the popular Academic Hour, a special session within the technical programme in which university students and young professionals present papers on any subject matter related to dredging. As this will be the first Dredging Days to be held in North Africa, students from the region have been given special encouragement to submit papers. There will be a related exhibition in the foyer of the technical session room.

A technical visit to the Port of Casablanca is scheduled for the afternoon of 22 October. The Dredging Days social programme includes the Conference Dinner and there will be tours of Casablanca for accompanying partners. A post-Conference tour of Marrakech is also on offer.

For further information, contact Dr Anna Csiti at the CEDA Secretariat, PO Box 488, 2600 AL Delft, The Netherlands.

Tel: +31 (0)15 278 3145, Fax: +31 (0)15 278 7104, Email: ceda@dredging.org