Hydrographic Society Benelux

Workshop on Dredging and Hydrography
The Hydrographic Society Benelux organised a workshop on hydrographic technical innovations in dredging in co-operation with the Central Dredging Association. Three interesting presentations were given.
Clive Skelhorn of Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors talked about surveying on board Flexible Fall Pipe Vessels of Van Oord. They facilitate more precise stone positioning than the side rock dumping vessels and he took the audience of 100 people past equipment from the past like computers and sonar. Towards more modern times, Rik Smissaert of Couderé Geomatic Engineering showed an example of a Gatewing X100 UAS and explained the options this ‘flying wing’ offers for aerial survey work, creating DTMs and orthography. This technique has already been applied in dredging and the applications are increasing.
Erik Peeters of the project contractor for the port extension of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, showed the latest developments in the work and the innovations that were applied. A test bed of sonar equipment was used to compare different brands and it was fascinating to hear about the efforts to build a crane capable of positioning 40 blocks of stone in an area of 50m width. A special crane was used to accommodate a box with Lidar scanning systems and an R2Sonic multi-beam and most importantly an Echoscope 3D live viewer which facilitated on the spot checking of the positioning of the enormous blocks of stone at the edges of the land reclamation project.

The next workshop will be held in the north of the Netherlands, together with the Deutsche Hydrographische Gesellschaft (DHyG) on 12 December 2012. More details will follow on the website.
www.hydrographicsocietybenelux.eu

Hydro12 Event App
The programme for Hydro12 has almost been finalised. For the first time, Hydro12 introduces an app with the programme of the event. On any smartphone browser, go to m.twoppy.com/hydro12 to access it and to see the most recent programme and information about the speakers. By tapping on ‘Wanna Go’, you can mark sessions that you do not want to miss and they will become visible by tapping a separate button. Once you have created an account using your Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn user details, you can also meet other people with this app and start a network and discussions. WiFi will be available on board of the SS Rotterdam so make use of this clever communication tool for bringing delegates together. And of course, do not forget to register and make your travel arrangements! All the information can be found on the event website.
m.twoppy.com/hydro12
http://hydro12.com