Emergency dredging starts this week at Whanganui Port

The Whanganui Port said that emergency dredging works will begin in the Whanganui Port basin this week, following approval of a one-off consent variation by Horizons Regional Council.

The dredging is required to enable a clear channel in the area.

Without this work, local businesses would face significant disruption, putting jobs and the wider Te Pūwaha Whanganui Port revitalization project at risk, the Port said.

“Getting this work consented has required a culmination of approvals and we have had to work extensively with the Department of Conservation, and our Regional Council’s regulatory team. Hapū at place have guided the project through a process that has ensured this is a one-off, given the unprecedented pressure facing the project, and ultimately our wider community if this work cannot proceed,” said Hayden Turoa, Te Pūwaha project director.

Initial dredging will be undertaken using a long-reach excavator in the mobile boat hoist lift-out bay, before the Johnson & Bros dredger Mahikuri, a purpose-built 25-metre flat-top multipurpose barge, arrives later in September to complete the works.

The sediment will be disposed to trucks at the wharf that will initially transport it to a temporary, contained site on Wharf 2.

Further disposal sites are still being determined, the Port said.