Harwich Haven Authority launches new dredging technology Tiamat

Following robust development and trials, Harwich Haven Authority (HHA) is bringing Tiamat, a new and innovative agitation dredging solution. The commercialisation of this industry technology will be through a newly incorporated, and wholly owned subsidiary of the Authority, Haven Dredging Ltd.

As a unit, Tiamat can be towed by a relatively small work vessel and consists of a frame carrying two pumps.

One pump is used to inject water into the sediment overlying the bed of the harbour, whilst the second pump extracts the diluted silt and pumps it up a flume, from where it is released into the water column.

The silt can be relocated either within the estuarine system on a flood tide or washed out of the harbour on an ebb tide through the natural tidal currents.

Tiamat has now been integrated into the Authority’s own dredging programme, in parallel with ongoing research and development.

Trials of the machine to date, including independent environmental impact assessments, were conducted by leading experts in dredging practices, Royal HaskoningDHV and HR Wallingford, and further independent reviews by the Environmental Agency and Natural England.

Following each trial and subsequent discussion of the results and impressions of the vessel’s crew, improvements have been made to the machine and to working practice.

This vast expanse of knowledge building has allowed for a complete redesign of the Authority’s dredging strategy, which addresses the challenges of economics, ecology, climate change and coastal resilience – and moves to a more nature-based dredging approach: “Dredging with Nature”.