ABSTRACT
What are the environmental aspects of dredging? And why have they become increasingly important? In the past, dredging focused on nautical, hydraulic and mining applications, that is, the maintenance of navigation channels, the discharge of water and the extraction of minerals such as sand and tin ore. Nowadays dredging clearly has a far wider range of applications. These include building islands and developing other land reclamation areas, such as those in the Middle East and Asia. Dredging is also used for cleaning up contaminated areas or restoring the environment or (re)creating habitats.
