DEME wins major Elbe deepening contract

The Waterways and Shipping Administration Cuxhaven placed the contract valued at some €238 million with DEME Group subsidiaries Nordsee Nassberger und Tiefbau and Dredging International.

This capital dredging project is a complex environmental and marine engineering project which must comply with strict environmental guidelines as specified in the planning approval. It consists of the widening and deepening of the 116km long fairway between Cuxhaven and Hamburg to a depth of -14.5m. This will allow ships with a draught of 13.5m to transit the River Elbe, up from 12.5m at present, and not be restricted by the tide and ships with a 14.5m draught (tide-dependent) when sailing from and towards the port of Hamburg.

DEME Group dredgers have had regular deployments maintaining the Cuxhaven to Hamburg fairway since 2004.

“Securing this contract is a great team achievement as it proves that our local expertise is the key to success for consolidating the company’s presence in Germany, said Christopher Iwens, general manager of the company’s German subsidiaries. “ We are pleased to partner with our client WSA Cuxhaven and look forward to working closely with them to ensure the successful execution of this project. The preparatory phase of this important project is now in full swing and is taken care of by our specialist teams located in our offices in Bremen.”

By Larz Bourne