One of the keynote speakers at Aquaterra 2009 will be Stephen Bradford, CEO of the Port of Melbourne. Bradford will share his experience with a large dredging project in his harbour that finally started this year. What can be learned from this billion-dollar project that has a combined goal of deepening the entrance to the harbour and protecting the environment of the surrounding delta. Stephen Bradford believes in a new social contract between business, society and government.

Extra environmental protection
Like in many other deltas, nature has become rare in the densely populated Melbourne metropolis. The harbour is situated in a bay and environmental groups feared that deepening the harbour entrance would stir up the polluted sediment in the bay and spread it further. Years of juridical struggles between the harbour, government and environmental groups have led to a balanced project plan. Bradford has supervised the coming about of the plan and will share his experiences at the Aquaterra conference.

Gain-pain contract
The Melbourne dredging project has more unique features. Dutch company Boskalis Westminster, which recently started the dredging, had to combine two techniques, cutter and hopping, in order to be able to remove both rock and sand from the underwater soils. Another aspect of the project is the 'gain-pain' contract between the Melbourne Harbour and Boskalis Westminster. If the work goes well both parties will benefit, but the extra costs of any setbacks will also be shared. This kind of contract is interesting under certain circumstances and Bradford will reveal at the conference why he chose for such an arrangement.

For the entire conference programme overview, click here.