Dredging is not only vital to maintain navigation, and therefore to international commerce, but also pays an important role in offshore engineering, the obtaining of aggregates for the construction industry, and in coastal defence works.

This guide highlights the particular problems of excavating from underwater sites and describes the methods and equipment developed to overcome them. All the stages of dredging are considered, from project design specification and site investigation, through production estimation and contractual issues, to supervision and management of the actual dredging works.

While the principles involved may be familiar to engineers from other fields, the specialist equipment and methods and the particular environmental and economic considerations described will be of great interest to those wishing to expand their professional knowledge of civil engineering issues.