Governments invest in dredging projects to stave off recession

As governments around the world have been grappling with the financial crisis, renewed interest has been sparked in the dredging sectorn and its contributions to long-term, global infrastructure have been reevaluated.

All around the world, public infrastructure spending, including ports and waterways, has become part of government stimulus packages, aimed at  creating jobs and halting the economic downward slide.

In China, billions of dollars have been assigned to railway, highway, airport, port, and urban and rural grids. Port construction and waterways development are expected to continue at the same rate as in the past several years as a stimulus against the recession.

In Germany, as part of the government's US$110 billion stimulus package, more than US$2.5 billion will flow into German waterway projects this year and next, double the amount in the previous two years.

In the Netherlands, the government presented a US$8.1 billion economic stimulus plan to parliament, saying the funds would be spent over the next six years, primarily on infrastructure projects, unemployment prevention and sustainable energy.

And the United States recently signed its Recovery Act legislation which appropriated US$4.6 billion to the US Army Corps for its civil works programmes including the Mississippi River and Tributaries and its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). These funds are expected to accomplish work on water resources projects that will benefit the country for years to come.