The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) is the global umbrella organisation for contractors in the private dredging industry: an industry that makes the world a safer, better and more sustainable place to live. IADC is driven to help that industry move forward with a variety of activities and publications, all of which can be found on this website.

News

Out now: Terra et Aqua #177

Read the latest issue of Terra et Aqua featuring articles covering dredging projects as well as the topics of safety, socio-economics, technical innovations and the environment.

24 September

IADC launches new web resource – Responsible Marine Solutions: DFSI

IADC launches a new web resource – Responsible Marine Solutions: DFSI

23 September

Van Oord announced winner of the IADC Safety Award 2025

IADC granted the 2025 Safety Award to Van Oord

18 September

More news

CORPORATE VIDEO

Watch IADC's corporate video.

Latest issue

The autumn issue includes articles on blue carbon – exploring how waterborne transport infrastructure impacts blue carbon ecosystems, the submissions and winner of IADC's Safety Award 2025, and spotlights the winner of this year's Young Author Award and their standout contribution.

 

177
Published September 2025
Submissions for the IADC Safety Award 2025

When individual employees, teams and companies view everyday processes and situations through a continuous lens of safety, they can each contribute to making all aspects of operational processes, whether on water or land, safer. For this year’s Safety Award, IADC’s Safety Committee received 14 submissions. Each one is assessed on five different categories; sustainability; level of impact on the industry; simplicity in use; effectiveness; and level of innovation.

Blue carbon – an opportunity for the waterborne transport infrastructure sector

Many ports and harbours operate in and around marine coastal habitats,
such as tidal marshes, mangrove forests and seagrasses. Many of these
marine coastal habitats are considered blue carbon ecosystems, which
play a crucial role in capturing carbon. This article examines how waterborne
transport infrastructure impacts blue carbon ecosystems, reviews
current mitigation strategies and suggests integrated approaches for
sustainable coexistence. We emphasise the importance of collaboration
among marine transport authorities, environmental managers, scientists
and engineers to protect these essential carbon sinks while supporting
the sector’s economic contributions.

Van Oord’s award-winning reclamation pipe gasket redesign

Sometimes a small improvement can have a huge impact. Van Oord’s new reclamation pipe gasket design significantly reduces the risk of potential finger injuries with an easy to implement and cost-effective solution. The design was chosen as the winner of IADC’s Safety Award 2025.

Laboratory setup to study cutting forces of blunt chisels

Dredging of rock using a cutter head as found on a cutter suction dredger will become increasingly more important as drilling and blasting is often prohibited. Understanding the cutting process and resulting forces on the chisels can lead to improved design and operational efficiency. The majority of experimental and numerical work performed considers rock cutting with an unworn or sharp chisel, often omitting the normal force. This article presents the linear rock cutting setup developed by Royal IHC to study the effect of a worn or blunt chisel geometry on the cutting forces, with the emphasis on the normal force.

Seminars & Courses

To optimise the chances of the successful completion of a project, contracting parties should, from the start, fully understand the requirements of a dredging project. IADC’s seminar strives to provide an understanding of the basics of dredging through lectures and workshops which are given by industry experts in a classroom setting for a hands-on experience.

MEMBERS

IADC has over a hundred main and associated members.

Publications

Dredging in Figures 2023

Dredging in Figures is an annual review of the global dredging market.

DOWNLOAD PDF Document | 17,55 MB

Annual Report 2023

In this “Annual Report” the Board gives an overview of the state of affairs of IADC and its activities in 2023. The report highlights various projects that the Association has undertaken for the year.

DOWNLOAD PDF Document | 1,49 MB

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