ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA - November 13, 2012. The Dredging 2012 Specialty Conference was held October 22-25 in San Diego, CA, jointly sponsored by the U.S. Section of PIANC (the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure) and ASCE's Institute for Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers (COPRI).
The conference featured over 200 technical presentations on a wide range of navigation and dredging related topics organized around six technical tracks:
- Environmental Dredging (Remediation/Dredging)
- Dredged Material Management
- Dredging Contracting and Management Innovations
- Working with Nature
- Regulatory Challenges and Solutions
- Integrating Dredged Material Reuse and Environmental Restoration
Overall, the conference included more than 500 attendees drawn from over 25 countries, including 130 PIANC "young professionals.“ The Honorable Jo Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), gave the opening keynote.
Almost a dozen students from the U.S. and abroad were sponsored to attend the conference and in return presented a poster. The conference also included more than 50 sponsors and exhibitors demonstrating the latest products and services in the field. The preconference courses and technical sessions were exceptionally well attended—many with standing-room only, a tribute to the tireless work by PIANC Commissioner Dr. Bob Engler, Moffatt & Nichol, and the outstanding collaborative participation by the conference technical committee, COPRI Waterways Committee and PIANC. There were also several networking opportunities for attendees and exhibitors, including two young professional events and an induction ceremony for the Academy of Coastal, Ocean, Port, and Navigation Engineering.
Given the success of this event, PIANC USA & ASCE COPRI are planning to continue holding this conference on a more “regular” basis (and not every 10 years!), with a possible next event planned for 2015. The Conference PowerPoint presentations and abstracts are posted on the conference website. The conference photo gallery will be posted in the near future. THANKS again to everyone who supported this conference —it was a phenomenal success!