Urgent dredging underway at the Port of Rio Grande

Portos RS has commenced urgent dredging to recover the most critical stretch of the access channel to the Port of Rio Grande, in an area outside the Barra Breakwaters.

Photo courtesy of the Portos RS

According to the Port Authority, the work is being carried out by Jan de Nul’s hopper dredger Galileo Galilei.

R$ 21.5 million will be invested for the removal of 593 thousand cubic meters of sediment and the service is expected to be completed within 20 days,” said director of infrastructure, Lucas Meurer.

The amount to be dredged was indicated by a bathymetry, carried out after an incident involving a vessel, during the month of May.

The floods of the same period also contributed to the silting of the waterway and the access channel to the Port of Rio Grande, however this work will only comprise a stretch of approximately three kilometers.

The Port Authority is planning to conduct more extensive dredging campaign and restore the depths of the waterway as soon as the permits are received.