WEDA Dredging Summit & Expo Set for Houston
The Western Dredging Association (WEDA) and the Texas A&M University will host its annual conference the 2015 Dredging Summit & Expo at the Westin Galleria in Houston Texas from June 22 to 25. The theme of the conference “Dredgers the Environment and Commerce” will focus on the people and organizations that make dredging happen and the environmental and commercial impacts of dredging. This includes discussions about the critical economic need for dredging trends in dredging technology and safety and historical dredging development.
The keynote speaker is Esteban Sáenz executive vice president for operations of the Panama Canal Authority. He will provide a progress update and future outlook on the Canal Expansion Program addressing the impacts on global trades routes dredging and freight logistics infrastructure. Saenz will speak at a hosted lunch on Wednesday June 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Monday June 22 prior to the start of the conference attendees can go on a tour of NASA Houston for an additional fee from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Later in the day the WEDA Continuing Education Short Course: Managing the 5Rs of Environmental Dredging will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. The opening reception and ice breaker will take place Monday night from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday June 23 includes a breakfast for all attendees from 7 to 7:30 a.m. and a Young WEDA Icebreaker from 6 to 7 p.m.
The Western Dredging Association (WEDA) Dredging Summit & Expo will be held from June 22 to 25 at the Westin Galleria in Houston Texas.
TECHNICAL SESSIONS
Technical sessions run June 22 to 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. On Thursday June 25 the WEDA Environmental Commission Panel meets from 8 to 9:30 a.m. and technical sessions run until noon. Technical sessions topical tracks include: Coastal Restoration; Dredging for Navigation and Construction; Safety Initiatives; Precision Excavation; Dredge Design: Challenges and Opportunities; Environmental Lubricants; Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers; Survey and Modeling; Past Present and Future of Dredging; and Dredging Solutions.
Specific presentation topics include Beneficial Use and Engineering with Nature The Slip Ratio of Holdup Function in Slurry Transport; The Impact Wear Behavior of Large Rocks on Slurry Pump Materials and Equipment; The Delft Sand Clay & Rock Cutting Model; The Influence of Adhesion on Cutting Processes in Dredging; In-Situ Sample Core Scanning for Preparation of Dredging Works; Oyster Reef Mitigation for Bayport Ship Channel Improvement Project; Saving Buried Oysters; A Case Study on the Engineering and Design of the Cole’s Bayou Marsh Restoration Project; Dredging of the Historical Cedar Bayou Tidal Inlet on the Texas Gulf Coast; Dredging for Mitigation Banks at Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge; Lessons Learned from Coastal Beneficial Use Features in Galveston Bay; Engineering With Nature Geographic Project Mapping Tool; Evolving Dredging Practices to Engineer With Nature; Hurricane Sandy Dredging Projects: Sand and More; Tampa Harbor Maintenance Dredging with Egmont Key Benefitical Re-use of High Silt Content Material Using a Traditional Template Versus Cross Shore Swash Zone Placement; The Delaware Bay Beaches: Sand Needs for Coastal Protection and Resiliency; Navigation Channel Depth for Ibaka Deep Seaport in Nigeria; Building a Proactive Safety Culture in the Dredging Industry Through Use of Job Safety Analysis and Job Safety Analysis Audits; Environmental Dredging Productivity for Precision Excavator Dredges; Challenges of Dredging in the Arctic and Other Deep Ocean Locations; New Dredging Equipment: The USACE Shallow Draft Split-Hull Dredge Murden; Trends in Design of Trailing Suction Hopper Dredges; Dynamic Underwater 3D Survey and Monitoring During Recent Platform Dredging Operation: Reducing Risk and Exposure While Improving Safety and Productivity.
The post conference tour will be to the Port of Houston on Thursday June 25 from 1 to 5 p.m.
The exhibits are open Tuesday and Wednesday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursday June 25 until 10:30 a.m. The following is a list of exhibitors and their booth numbers.
