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Few dredging companies can boast the history Virginia’s Norfolk Dredging brings to each job it performs. A veteran of hydraulic and clamshell dredging since 1899, Norfolk Dredging explains that it has leveraged its history and experience into strong relationships with a string of repeat customers throughout the East Coast.

“Since 1899, we have led the dredging industry with innovative processes, including safety and environmental measures, earning us a premier reputation with governmental departments, municipalities and corporate entities from Maine to the Gulf Coast,” the company says.

“Our company operates in all coastal areas, performing maintenance and new work dredging, with specialties in subaqueous trench and tunnel excavation, backfill and hydraulic landfill.

“We have ocean-certified dredges and scows and have performed work in lakes, bays, sounds and rivers,” the company continues. “We have worked in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. Norfolk Dredging Co. has pumped dredged material as far 13 miles using our in-house pipelines and expertise.”

As the company enters its second century of service, Norfolk Dredging stresses that it aims to continue the tradition of innovation and quality that has allowed the operation to thrive for more than 100 years.

Prominent Projects

As proof of its skill and expertise, Norfolk Dredging points to some of its many successful projects it has completed over the years. One of the company’s most recent triumphs, for example, was the Hubline Project for Algonquin Gas Transmission Co.

According to the company, the Hubline Project was a 29-mile long, 30-inch steel pipeline installed under Massachusetts Bay. It is the longest undersea gas line in New England, and was built to carry natural gas for local and regional markets. However, complications were discovered soon after its installation.

“Although the pipeline was in-place and operational, there were several locations where the pipeline installation did not conform to the permit requirements,” the company says. “Portions of the pipeline were either buried too shallow or not covered with enough material. Norfolk Dredging Co. used the Dredge Atlantic to restore the natural sea-bottom by taking the original mounded trench material along the sides of the pipeline that remained after the pipeline placement, and cover the pipeline while simultaneously restoring the surrounding sea bottom.”

Complicating matters was the location of the work, the company adds. “The uniqueness of this restoration project is that Norfolk Dredging Co. had to perform this work some five miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, in the middle of winter, digging to depths of 120 feet over an active high-pressure gas pipeline, while working under a rigidly defined time frame for completion,” it says. Nevertheless, the work was completed on time and without incident.

Another significant project, completed in 1999, was the deepening of San Juan Harbor in Puerto Rico. The project involved the Sabana Approach and Puerto Nuevo and Graving dock channels, and created some interesting logistical situations for the company.

“This Caribbean project provided Norfolk Dredging Co. a unique transportation challenge in that all the equipment required for the project had to be shipped inside containers resting inside the very scow material barges intended for the project,” the company says. “Two trucks, a wide assortment of dredging buckets, dredging wire rope cable and a host of supplies were successfully transported over 1,500 miles from Virginia to Puerto Rico.

“Additionally, this project called for improving the angle of the bay entrance by 20 percent and improving the depth of most areas throughout the bay, making it up to 10 feet deeper in some areas,” the company continues. “Some of this dredged material was comprised of very hard limestone that was difficult to excavate, but with Norfolk Dredging Co.’s 100 years of experience, and the possession of a wide range of hard-bottom dredging buckets, successful excavation with materials typically requiring blasting prior to dredging was achieved.”

Full Dedication

Successful projects such as these demonstrate not only the skill with which Norfolk Dredging operates today, but also the foundation upon which the company will continue to build its future growth.

“While we at Norfolk Dredging Co. are proud of our past achievements, our strength and our future remain bound to the expertise and dedication of each employee who has successfully sustained and promoted Norfolk Dredging Co. for 100 years,” the company says.