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GRAND-RIVIERE, MARTINIQUE – In 2010 construction of a new port and sea wall in Grand Riviere, a remote fishing village on the Northern tip of Martinique, disrupted the natural sediment movement and transport patterns and resulted in beach erosion. Inhabitants of the village recall playing soccer games on the beach, which has now been completely consumed by the sea. An even more serious issue for the village, however, is port siltation; it interferes with the fishing activities and affects the livelihoods of the inhabitants who rely on them.
After careful research into portable hydraulic, environmental dredges, Mr. Arthur Trebeau of 3TM, a Martinican company, decided to invest in an IMS Model 7012 HP Versi-Dredge to complete his dredging contract at Grand Riviere Port. Mr. Trebeau worked closely with Washington-based maritime consultancy Underwater Professionals to prepare the site for dredging.
“I conducted careful research and consulted international experts on environmental engineering to ensure that the dredge would not have any negative impact on the environment,” said Mr. Trebeau.
The dredge is pumping sand from the port through a 12 in. (305 mm) diameter discharge line up to 1,640 ft. (500 m) distance where it will replenish the beach that has virtually disappeared after construction of the sea wall.
The Model 7012 HP Versi-Dredge’s one truck transportable design allowed 3TM to transport it on a single flat bed trailer through mountainous serpentine roads dotted with steep turns and S-curves from the discharge port, Fort de France, to the other side of the island.
The Project Consultant Stefan Templeton of Underwater Professionals said:
“After diving on site and providing a full project assessment to 3TM, I recommended the IMS 7012 HP due to its self-propulsion feature and low turbidity cutterhead. This was a very interesting project for our company, which has recommended dredges for many buyers around the globe. In this case two other dredges previously on site failed – a recently delivered dredge from China and another from Eastern Europe due to mechanical failures, low quality materials, and poor operations.”
