A substantial contract for dredging and coastal defence works in the Port of Livorno has been awarded to a joint venture including SIDRA, the Italian company of the DEME Group. Believed to be the biggest dredging project in the country, this award relates to the first phase of the Piattaforma Europa  project with the construction of Darsena Europa , a large port expansion and considered the new Tuscan gateway.

The project will eventually encompass 3 km of docks, two large terminals and 2 million m² of new port areas. DEME’s scope represents approximately 16 million m³ of dredging volumes and additionally, the joint venture is responsible for the construction of two new breakwaters (Diga Nord and Diga Sud) and the relocation of the Meloria breakwater (in total 6 km of breakwater construction).

The dredging operations, starting in 2023, are designed to provide the foundations for the new breakwaters, and to deepen the access channel to -17 m and the internal basins and docks to -16 m. A sizeable part of the dredged materials will be used for beach nourishment works along the Pisan coast, highlighting DEME’s focus on the circular economy. The remaining materials will be deposited inside the newly created basin, creating a foundation for a future platform.

DEME will deploy several cutter suction dredgers and a trailing suction hopper dredger at the project.

Combining expertise to offer smart solutions
“We are delighted to have won this fantastic project as one team. This is the result of a terrific team effort. DEME’s marine engineering expertise is combined with the specialist knowledge of strong Italian partnersSales, Fincantiere Opere Marittime and Fincosit. We are all deploying our own dedicated equipment and offering smart solutions to perform these works. We are very much looking forward to starting to create the ‘Piattaforma Europa’ and contributing to this enormous project, which is so important for the economic development of the Port of Livorno and indeed, for the whole region,” said Jan Vandenbroeck, General Manager of SIDRA.

DEME has extensive knowledge of the port already, having executed several projects in the past, including the dredging of the northern side of the Molo Italia area, the southern entrance to the port and the maintenance and dredging works for the Toscana dock and turning basin.