Port of Recife begins studies for dredging.

Pernambuco 247 - The Port of Recife and the National Institute of Waterway Research (INPH) today began studies and surveys for the execution of detailed designs for dredging and nautical signaling works in the internal areas and access channel of the Port of Recife. Before going into the field, representatives from INPH, the Port Authority, the Pilotage service, and the Port President, Olavo de Andrade Lima Neto, gave a brief explanation of the process stages.

The engineer from the Wagner Dias Institute explained the first stage of the studies and the surveys that will be carried out until May 4th. The data collected and analyzed by INPH will serve to support the project, the terms of reference, and the bidding process for the new dredging. The Institute will prepare proposals and simulations using physical and mathematical modeling to reduce the operational restrictions of the Port and increase its commercial capacity in attracting new businesses.

"In this first stage, a bathymetric survey will be carried out, which is a kind of snapshot of the variations in the depths of the seabed. We will take these results to the Institute, and from there we can begin to propose solutions and simulate options," said Dias.

The idea is that the entire process should involve not only the Port and INPH, but also the Port Authority and the Pilotage service. The studies aim to improve the geometry and depth of the access channel, as well as the berthing berths to 12 meters (currently they vary between 11 and 8 meters); the readjustment and expansion of the maneuvering area to 550 meters in diameter (currently it is 450 meters); and the implementation of siltation retention ditches.

The expectation is that the project, the tender notice, and the terms of reference for the bidding process will be ready by the end of the year. "This partnership with INPH should bring more speed to the bidding process and the start of the dredging works at the Recife port, as happened with the Ports of Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Paranaguá, and Rio Grande, which were included in the National Dredging Program 2 (PND2), as was the Port of Recife," emphasizes the Port's president, Olavo de Andrade Lima.

The Recife port has been included in the National Dredging Program 2 (PND2), which will be carried out with federal funds, but the Port of Recife is responsible for submitting the necessary projects, which could cost up to 3 million reais if prepared by private consulting firms.

"We presented INPH technicians with a preliminary study, conducted jointly with the Pilotage and the Port Authority, which shows the navigability situation in the Port of Recife, and the team led by the Institute's director, Domenico Acetta, offered to carry out all the studies, projects, terms of reference, and bidding documents so that the SEP (Secretariat of Ports) can proceed with the bidding process," said the president of the Port of Recife.

PND2 – It was launched in 2012 by the Presidency of the Republic. It is part of the Logistics Investment Program – Ports (PIL-Portos) and foresees the deepening and subsequent maintenance of the depths achieved in the access channels, turning basin and also the berths, in long-term contracts and the possibility of contracting in blocks, to guarantee economies of scale. R$ 3,8 billion in investment is planned for maintenance dredging over the next ten years in different ports across the country, according to information from SEP. 

*With information from the press office.