Dredging of fuel port soon ready

The dredging and final hydrographic survey of the fuel will soon be complete. The work on deepening the sea bed is now reaching its final stage, getting the new hydrographic survey data approved by the Swedish Maritime Administration.

The work on constructing the fuel port has been continuing for many years. Customers with a need to increase their fuel volumes have been requesting that the port be deepened for a long time. The proximity to customers contributes to large environmental benefits as road transportation reduces.

The dredging work has meant that an area of 5 000 m2 has now been removed to a volume of roughly 6 000 m3. Roughly 1 000 m3 of this material was polluted sediment that was sent to an approved reception facility. The remainder, the clean material, will be deposited in a deep hole outside Sydhamnen. In order to determine the precise bed depth, a hydrographic survey was carried out before the dredging started. With this, the dredging contractor was able to regulate large volumes of material that have been excavated.

- Every day, we have checked the levels of noise, dredged material, estimation requirements, hydrographic survey requirements, the nature and turbidity of the bed, i.e. the cloudiness of the water. Everything must be reported to the regulatory authorities and noted in the final report for the project, explains Tomas Zackrisson, Port of Södertälje’s Environment Officer.

The final hydrographic survey will be performed soon. After that, all the new data will be sent to the Swedish Maritime Administration for approval of new bed depth and updating of the charts.

- It has been a long way to come here until the end of the project, explains Tomas. But soon the work will be complete and our customers can finally arrive with large fuel vessels.