WODCON Concludes with Paper Awards Harbor Cruise
René Kolman displays the statuette presented to the recipient of the IADC’s Young Author Award.
Marcel Hermans new president and chairman of the board of the Western Dredging Association (WEDA) took the podium for the closing session of the World Dredging Conference (WODCON) May 17 when the best paper awards were presented and door prizes given.
He announced that following the session a boat tour of the recently deepened PortMiami navigation channels would take place that after-noon sponsored by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company which per-formed the dredging.
He reported that there were more than 600 participants at this WODCON hailing from more than 30 countries.
Robert Ramsdell left accepts the “Why Dredging is Good” award from Robert Wetta on behalf of the PortMiami deepening project team.
“We gained new insights new knowledge new friends so the conference was a success” he said.
With more than 150 technical presentations in 3 ½ days the awards committees had a challenge to select the winners of their awards.
Robert Ramsdell director of production engineering at Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company is chair of the WEDA technical papers committee and took over the podium for the awards.
Ashley Roznowski left who organized the cruise Tom Cappelino and Robert Ramsdell in the dining room during the cruise.
The Dredging Contractors of America (DCA) and WEDA-sponsored award was given to Klaas Slager and Mark Winkleman of Damen Dredge for the paper On the Relation of Maximum Ball Passage and Recirculation Losses in Dredge Pumps an analysis of pump design considering good fuel efficiency with a large enough passage to allow rocks and debris to pass through the pump without interrupting the dredging process. The winners received a plaque a listing in the Hall of Fame section of the WEDA website and $1000.
“Why is Dredging Good?” is the best paper award DSC Dredge sponsors every year. This year the winning paper answered that question with “the beneficial re-use of sediments.”
The Value of Dredged Material to Ecosystem Restoration and Coastal Resiliency by T. Jordan-Sellers E.P. Summa B. Hope C.J. Kruempel D. Nelson A. McCarthy M.S. Fonseca Ph.D. S.R. Conger and C. Pomfret — was a study of the compensatory mitigation on seagrass beds during the recent deepening at PortMiami. As a representative of GLDD one of the project team members Ramsdell accepted the award from Robert Wetta president of DSC Dredge LLC. The award included a plaque a listing in the Hall of Fame section of the WEDA website and $1000.
The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) gave its Young Author paper award to François Dekeuleneer for Lux-eal – the Easy to Handle Aquitard. The winner received a check for €$1000 a certificate of recognition and a special trophy from René Kolman director of IADC. Dekeuleneer is an environmental engineer at DEME in Belgium.
The technical field trip a boat tour of the PortMiami entrance channel was sponsored by GLDD and organized by Ashley Roznowski production engineer with GLDD. It included a gourmet luncheon in the dining room as well as drinks and snacks on deck. The cruise took participants out the Miami River and into the Atlantic Ocean entrance channel which was widened to 800 feet from 300 feet and deepened to 52 feet from 44 feet. The ship then passed over Cut 2 where the intersection with Fisherman’s Channel was widened and deepened to 50 feet over Cut 3 where the Fisher Island turning basin was enlarged and Fisher-man’s Channel where the berthing area was expanded and the channel deepened.
The closing boat trip complemented an evening dinner cruise hosted by J.F. Brennan Inc. on Wednesday which plied the Miami River until dark and provided a venue for participants to connect with colleagues.
