The dredging vessel Brisbane will depart Port Phillip Bay tomorrow afternoon after successfully completing required maintenance dredging in South Channel, Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) CEO, Stephen Bradford, announced today.
Despite some inclement weather during the project which commenced on 7 February, the vessel removed a natural build-up of sand within the thirty-five day schedule and ahead of the Labour Day long weekend.
In total, around 300,000 cubic metres of clean sand has been removed from sections of South Channel and placed in the underwater South-East Dredged Material Ground near Mount Martha.
Importantly, all the work undertaken in South Channel was conducted in accordance with the approved Environmental Management Plan.
Ongoing hydrographic surveys by the PoMC vessel John Norgate throughout the project have kept track of the volume of dredged material removed and worked to ensure the design specifications for the channel’s required draught clearance has been met. While dredging activities will cease tomorrow, surveys will continue to be undertaken in South Channel over the coming days.
Additionally, PoMC- has taken the opportunity to conduct some minor sweeping operations over the past few days by deploying the vessel Pacific Conquest at the confluence of the Maribymong and Yarra Rivers in the port precinct to level out high spots of sediment build up on the river bed. That work has now been completed.
[mappress] Source: Port of Melbourne, March 8, 2012