WEDA Provides
Dredging Forum
After 40 years, the Western Dredging Association is continuing
its mission of providing technical papers, exchanging of ideas
and meeting places for the dredging industry in the Americas
The Western Dredging Association (WEDA)’s mission
is to promote the exchange of knowledge in fields
related to dredging, navigation, hydrographic surveying
and marine engineering and construction, and to
provide the opportunity for dredging professionals to meet
and exchange knowledge on all topics.
The organization is an offshoot of groups established in
1967 by Mortimer J. Richardson, a civil engineer who worked
in mining, who had the concept of an organization that would
unite dredging professionals around the world. He established
two organizations – the World Dredging Association
(WODA), which held regional meetings for dredging professionals;
and the World Dredging Conference Association
(WODCON), to produce dredging trade shows around the
world. He retained ownership of the organizations and produced
all the meetings and shows.
Between 1967 and 1976, Richardson produced eight World
Dredging Conferences in five countries, and established regular,
well-attended meetings of WODA, which were attended
by 120 to 140 participants. These meetings and conferences
formed the relationships through which the next generation
of organizations were formed.
The group re-organizes
In 1978, dredging contractors in Europe withdrew from
WODA and WODCON and formed the Central Dredging
Association (CEDA). Dredging contractors in the United
States also re-formed, as the non-profit organization, WEDA.
Its first meeting, WEDA I, in September 1979, drew 140 dredging
professionals from Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Officers and board members were elected, and included representatives
from all three countries. C.G. Benckhuysen of
Public Works Canada was elected to the board and took over
as organizer of WODCON IX in Vancouver, B.C. in 1980.
At the Vancouver meeting, attended by dredging professionals
from around the globe, the Eastern Dredging
Association (EADA) was formed, and the three groups were
united under the umbrella organization WODA. Its purpose
was to produce a World Dredging Conference every three
years, in alternating parts of the world.
In 1991, Craig Vogt, a scientist with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, joined WEDA, and in 1994 established
the WEDA Environmental Commission to raise awareness of
environmental issues associated with dredging and disposal,
and to work toward getting dredging projects done in a costeffective
and timely manner while meeting environmental
objectives. The environmental commission presents several
awards for environmental projects at every annual meeting.
In the 1990s, contractors were seeing an increased
number of injuries and fatalities on dredging jobs, and
began assessing their operations and seeking changes in
protocol to increase safety. Thomas Verna, from the Chief
of Engineers office at USACE Headquarters in Washington,
By Judith Powers
Burton Suedel, center, of ERDC accepts the environmental
award for mitigation of climate change from Craig Vogt,
left, and Marcel Hermans. The award was for creation
over time of a carbon sink and nutrient capturing dredged
material island in the lower Mississippi River.
30 Q4 2017 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
