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Maintenance dredging work in the Ross River, down stream of the Port Access Road bridge, is now underway.
According to Port of Townsville Limited, material dredged from this location will be brought back to the Townsville Marine Precinct by barge and transferred to land.
A maintenance dredge campaign is usually conducted once a year for around 4-5 weeks, depending on the amount of sediment building up in the channel and harbour.
The Port’s Hydrographic Surveyors use specialist equipment and carry out detailed surveying four times per year to measure the depth of the port infrastructure and monitor the volume of sediment building up.
The Port is legally required to maintain a safe shipping channel and harbour to provide an efficient port which services the North Queensland community.
The Port of Townsville is currently linked to national shipping routes by a 14 kilometre long and 92 metre wide channel through Cleveland Bay.
This channel is maintained to a depth of 11.7 metres to enable ships up to 238 metres to safely enter the Port.