Posted on August 7, 2024
Western Dredging Association’s (WEDA) Lifetime Achievement Award is WEDA’s most prestigious award. The award is reserved for those individuals whose contributions to WEDA and to the dredging community over their career will persist for decades to come. Annually, WEDA reviews potential candidates for the Lifetime Achievement Award, who are nominated by their colleagues. The winner is then selected through a rigorous evaluation process by the WEDA Awards Committee, who are members of WEDA’s Board of Directors.
This year WEDA’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Mr. Ray Bergeron of Cable Arm Inc. of Trenton, Michigan by Matt Binsfeld, President and Chair of WEDA at the WEDA Summit & Expo held from June 24-27, 2024 in Tampa, Florida. Ray Bergeron is an example of an exceptional innovator, flourishing within the dredging industry. He exemplifies the dedication of the men and women at work in the dredging industry and this award recognizes his life-long achievements and value to the dredging community.
Bergeron’s innovative equipment is known to every dredging company and often directly or indirectly referenced in dredging specifications throughout the industry. In addition to starting and growing a company in the dredging space, Ray is also a steadfast supporter of WEDA and the marine industry. His commitment to consistent and innovative advertising spread awareness of his brand and supported the media that covers our industry. His revolutionary clamshell was and remains in the forefront of environmental dredging. Bergeron is an innovator, an inventor, and an incredible entrepreneur.
Ray Bergeron started his career in 1962, working for Dundar and Sullivan Dredging repair yard in Detroit, Michigan. By the late 1980s, Ray had concluded that existing clamshells were rather inefficient for removing sediment. This observation set in motion Ray’s internal drive to drastically increase efficiency in dredging, which led to his innovative buckets. By 1993, Ray had established his own company, Cable Arm Inc. and began delivering patented, environmentally responsible mechanical clamshells. The design was such a breakthrough for both maintenance and environmental dredging applications that Ray was named the Western Dredging Association 2010 Dredger of the Year.
Over the last 30 years, Cable Arm, Inc. has become a leader and innovator in the manufacturing of environmental mechanical and hydraulic clamshells. Ray’s innovative environmental buckets have continued to evolve with the remedial dredging industry, eventually including top venting, overlapping side plates, and an ability to perform a level cut with a lightweight bucket. Ray was also an early pioneer in positioning with the development of ClamVision, a wireless dredge positioning system.
Environmental clamshells are what set Cable Arm apart from the rest. Expanding on the benefits of using environmental clamshells for navigational and maintenance dredging, Cable Arm now manufactures its environmental features into buckets for these applications as well. Ray’s largest bucket built to date is a 75-yard model; in 2025, he is scheduled to deliver a 100- yard bucket for a company in Japan. Ray has provided customizable buckets for nearly every application and companies worldwide continue to turn to Cable Arm for their fabrication and environmentally sound capabilities
WEDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award commemorates the innovative spirit and support of the dredging industry, which has been permanently and positively impacted by Mr. Ray Bergeron of Cable Arm Inc.
