PHOTO: Hopper dredger LESSE working in Tuxpan, Mexico

Trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) LESSE was recently photographed in Mexico while dredging the access channel in Tuxpan.

According to owner of the vessel, Baggerbedrijf de Boer – Dutch Dredging, last summer Tropical Storm Grace ran across the Gulf of Mexico accompanied with very strong winds and rainfall. As a result of this, a lot of silt and sediment from the mountains has settled in the access channel of Tuxpan.

The client Asiponatux hired Dragosa and Dutch Dredging to help them clean up the access channel in order to create a minimum required sailing depth which will guarantee a safe passage for all ships.

Overall the project, which was complete earlier this year, included removal of approx. 315.000m3 of dredged material from the Tuxpan channel, Dutch Dredging said.

They also added that in order to prevent a quick settling of material in the access channel during the next storm season, an additional area of approximately 1000m2 was dredged to around 1m. This section functions as a sand trap thanks to which safe passage can be guaranteed for a longer period of time.