Posted on March 6, 2023
Over the last decade, several Ellicott® dredges have been operating in Benin on various types of projects including, flood prevention, river maintenance, and sand mining. The need for dredging in West Africa remains high as several communities are exposed to the effects of poor coastal development where erosion and flooding are prominent. Flooding remains an issue especially in Benin as thousands of homes have been destroyed in the last decade.
In 2019, Ellicott® Dredges supplied a 370-42 Dredge to West African Dredging contractor Logistics and Assistance. The dredge would be used for several activities including restoring wetlands, flood prevention, and building seawalls. This dredging project known as the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Program (WACA), was financed by The World Bank.
The 370-42 dredge (Photo shown on the left) supplied to Benin is operating on the Mono River to aid flood prevention. One specific purpose of the dredge is to re-route the part of the Mono River away from roads that have eroded over time in order to prevent flooding. In addition, the dredge was used to remove debris from a swamp. located outside of Bopa, Benin that has been flooded several times due to heavy rainfall. The floods have threated many local that are nearby. After the material is dredged, it is then used for land reclamation in the nearby communities affected by flooding. In one example, trees were also planted to slow the erosion process.
An Ellicott® 370-50 model (photo shown to the right) is operating just outside of Cotonou, Benin on a quarry site excavating approximately 1,500 cubic meters of sand per day. The sand is used for road construction in the region. For a smaller dredge, the 50 ft. ladder adaptation makes the 370 an even more effective tool for deeper dredging on rivers, lakes and even small ports. Along with the Ellicott 370 dredges, several 670 dredges have been operating on several sand quarries throughout the region for the purpose of supplying sand for road construction.
There is more good news for the West African region as the World Bank approved $246 million in financing for the WACA project which will benefit Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau in managing coastal erosion, flooding, and pollution, The need for dredging in Africa remains prominent given the recent approved funding by the World Bank, and Ellicott will continue to support African countries for these projects.
