Research & Development

Research & Development is essential to Boskalis. In order to stay ahead of the competition we continuously invest in the development of new methods and technology which increase the sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness of our operations.

Boskalis is one of the few leading international companies with the know-how required to take on even the most complex projects. Our clients and partners count on us for cutting-edge design and technology and expect innovative solutions as well as practical guidance.

The objectives of our research and development program include the following:

• To reduce the cost price per cubic meter of dredged material;
• To achieve greater precision in dredging;
• To make dredging more environmentally friendly;  
• To enhance the training program for fleet crews by designing and managing advanced simulators for hoppers and cutters;
• To improve descriptions of dredging processes to enable projects to be estimated and executed more accurately;
• To enter new markets; e.g. offshore mining.

In order to achieve these objectives, our in-house research team works on areas including:

• Improvement of survey techniques;
• Fleet automation and software development;
• Reduction of spillage from cutters;  Production optimization by hoppers;
• Development of dragheads;
• Development of soil improvement techniques;
• Development of computer models.

In developing new technology we also collaborate with peer group companies, universities and knowledge institutes. Click here for more information on research collaboration.

For an overview of various recent developments in the area of Research & Development, click here.