The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) is the global umbrella organisation for contractors in the private dredging industry: an industry that makes the world a safer, better and more sustainable place to live. IADC is driven to help that industry move forward with a variety of activities and publications, all of which can be found on this website.

News

Out now: Dredging in Figures 2025

The 2025 edition of Dredging in Figures, an annual review of the global open dredging market by the International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) is now available.

22 October

Van Oord announced winner of the IADC Safety Award 2026

IADC granted the 2026 Safety Award to Van Oord

15 October

Out now: Terra et Aqua #179

Read the latest issue of Terra et Aqua featuring articles covering dredging projects as well as the topics of safety, socio-economics, technical innovations and the environment.

08 October

More news

CORPORATE VIDEO

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Latest issue

The autumn issue of Terra et Aqua Magazine includes articles on the 20-year anniversary of the FIDIC Blue Book, submissions for the 2026 IADC Safety Award, lessons in zero-emission deployment from the Tiel-Waardenburg dyke reinforcement project and managing the growing demand for marine sand.

 

179
Published October 2026
Editorial: Navigating change

Frank Verhoeven, President of IADC, shares his thoughts on today’s issues related to the dredging industry and introduces the articles in this issue of Terra et Aqua.

20 YEARS OF THE FIDIC BLUE BOOK: A CONTRACT FOR THE DREDGING INDUSTRY
Authors: David Kinlan

The publication of the FIDIC Form of Contract for Dredging and Reclamation Works, commonly referred to as the Blue Book, marked a significant moment in the evolution of contracting within the marine infrastructure sector. First issued as a formal edition in 2006 following an earlier test version in 2001 and subsequently refined in the second edition published in 2016, the Blue Book represents one of the few genuinely industry-specific standard forms of contract developed for global use.

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2026 IADC SAFETY AWARD

When individual employees, teams and companies view everyday processes and situations through a continuous lens of safety, they can each contribute to making all aspects of operational processes, whether on water or land, safer. For the 2026 Safety Award, IADC’s Safety Committee received 12 submissions. Each one is assessed on five different categories; sustainability; level of impact on the industry; simplicity in use; effectiveness; and level of innovation.

DYKE REINFORCEMENT TIEL-WAARDENBURG: LESSONS IN ZERO- EMISSION DEPLOYMENT
Authors: Rik Smouter

Water and flood protection are existential concerns in the Netherlands, a country where much of the land lies below sea level and dykes are part of the everyday landscape. Maintaining and upgrading these defences is a permanent, large-scale undertaking and one that has traditionally been highly carbon intensive. The dyke reinforcement project between Tiel
and Waardenburg demonstrates that this does not have to be the case. Drawing on field studies and interviews with the project team, this article examines how the Mekante Diek consortium (Ploegam, Dura Vermeer and Van Oord) approached zero-emission execution at scale and the lessons the wider industry can draw for accelerating the transition to more sustainable infrastructure delivery.

TOWARDS MANAGING A GROWING DEMAND FOR MARINE SAND

The demand for marine sand for coastal nourishments is set to increase rapidly. At the same time, marine resources and space are finite and shared with other uses such as wind farms, shipping and protected marine habitats. The combination of rising demand and restricted supply leads to scarcity as an emerging challenge in the long-term management of sand extraction. Despite geographic proximity, Belgium and the Netherlands experience and manage sand scarcity in different ways, providing valuable lessons for long-term resource management worldwide. The research project BANX supports the management of sand extraction from tidal sandbanks by developing knowledge and tools.

Seminars & Courses

To optimise the chances of the successful completion of a project, contracting parties should, from the start, fully understand the requirements of a dredging project. IADC’s seminar strives to provide an understanding of the basics of dredging through lectures and workshops which are given by industry experts in a classroom setting for a hands-on experience.

MEMBERS

IADC has over a hundred main and associated members.

Publications

Dredging in Figures 2025

Dredging in Figures is an Annual Review of the Global Dredging Market.

DOWNLOAD PDF Document | 1,29 MB

Annual Report 2025

In this “Annual Report” the Board gives an overview of the state of affairs of IADC and its activities in 2025. The report highlights various projects that the Association has undertaken for the year.

DOWNLOAD PDF Document | 1,33 MB

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