DCA News

Welcome to the DCA 2007 News archive page.

The intended usage of this page is to maintain previous posts industry events, information and resources for the dredging industry from 2007. To view current industry news, please visit our 2008 DCA News page. You may also wish to view our 2006 DCA News page. Please also visit our other pages with important industry information, listed to the left.

• Restore America’s Estuaries 4th National Conference and Call for Papers
Restore America’s Estuaries is pleased to announce the Call for Dedicated Sessions, Presentations and Posters for the 4th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration – Creating Solutions through Collaborative Partnerships.

Proposals are due January 31, 2008. To download the Call for Dedicated Sessions, Presentations and Posters, visit www.estuaries.org/conference.

Estuaries and coasts are an important part of America's economy, history, and living culture. Restore America's Estuaries' 4th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration is the only national conference focused on the goals and practices of coastal and estuarine habitat restoration. The five-day Conference will explore the state-of-the-art in all aspects and scales of restoration, and will be comprised of field sessions, plenary sessions, expert presentations, special evening events, workshops, a poster hall, and a Restoration Exposition.

The 4th National Conference will be held in New England, October 11-15, 2008 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. Renowned for its natural beauty, history, and cultural offerings, the autumn colors of New England will set the background for this premier event.

The 4th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration will advance the science, pace, practice, and success of habitat restoration at all scales. Past Conference locations include Baltimore in April 2003 (800 attendees), Seattle in September 2004 (1,000 attendees), and New Orleans in December 2006 (1,400 attendees). The Conference brings together the entire coastal and estuarine habitat restoration community. It provides a unique blend of people and policy, science and strategy, business and best practices.

The Conference Program will address all aspects of coastal and estuarine habitat restoration, in all habitats and at all scales. Habitat restoration – manipulation of the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of a site with the goal of returning self-sustaining natural or historic structure and functions to former or degraded habitat – offers great promise for reversing trends of habitat loss and degradation and is a crucial component of comprehensive ecosystem restoration, protection and management. Resilient coastal habitat and ecosystems are essential for the maintenance and security of the economic, ecological, social and spiritual fabric of our lives.

For more information, contact Steve Emmett-Mattox at 303-652-0392 or program@estuaries.org.

• News Announcement: Senate passes Water Resources Development Act 2007 Conference Report by a vote of 81-12 on 24 September 2007.

• News announcement: House Passes Water Resources Development Act 2007 Conference Report by a vote of 381-40 on 1 August 2007.

• Mike Hooks, Inc. and Orion Marine Group Join the DCA
The staff and member companies of the Dredging Contractors of America are very pleased to welcome Mike Hooks, Inc. and Orion Marine Group into the national dredging and marine construction trade association.

Founded in 1945, Mike Hooks, Inc. continues to prosper as a family-owned and operated enterprise with offices in Lake Charles, Louisiana and Houston, Texas. They provide dredging services on a variety of government and private marine construction contracts spanning the Gulf Coast Region, from Brownsville, Texas to the Florida Panhandle. Such services include navigable waterways maintenance dredging, wetland replenishment, beach restoration, harbor excavation, and new construction.

Orion Marine Group has been in business for more than 60 years in the state of Texas and is a leading global marine contractor who performs a wide range of new construction, maintenance, repair, and inspection services on, over, and under the water. They own, operate, and maintain an array of equipment, including a tugboat fleet, dredging and pile-driving rigs, pipe-lay barges, cranes, marsh buggies, and dive-support vessels. Its dredging division, King Fisher Marine Service, performs hydraulic, mechanical, environmental, and specialty dredging along the Texas coast for both public and private customers. For more information about Orion Marine Group and its activities, please visit their website at www.orionmarinegroup.com. ~ July 2007

•DCA 2007 Congressional Reception
On June 12, 2007, the Dredging Contractors of America hosted its annual reception on Capitol Hill.  Senior executives from the nation’s leading dredging and marine construction companies, representatives from national maritime organizations and interest groups, and key congressional members and staff came together in the Gold Room of the Rayburn House Office Building for an evening of entertainment and networking.  Barry Holliday, Technical Director of the DCA, presented the William R. Murden Lifetime Public Service Achievement Award to Jerry Barnes, former Chief of Operations at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  See pictures.

•U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Names Dredge America, Inc. to the Honor Roll
Dredge America, Inc., a national portable hydraulic dredging company, was recognized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District for two distinguished awards:  “2006 Zero Accident Award” and “2006 Safety Honor Roll Award.”  Both awards were presented to Dredge America employees Mike Kerns and J.B. Pellicer at a ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee.  The awards recognize contractors who maintain zero lost time accidents and deliver exceptional performance in maintaining accident levels below the Corps’ South Atlantic Division’s frequency rates.  Congratulations Dredge America!!

•Restore America’s Estuaries 3rd National Conference
On December 9-13, 2006, the habitat restoration community met in New Orleans, Louisiana for Restore America’s Estuaries 3rd National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration to share their work, spirit and energy in pursuing coastal restoration as a national imperative.

The five-day conference offered over 82 sessions exploring the latest advances in all aspects of habitat restoration – from planning and design to monitoring and evaluation, and from science and practice to partnerships and community involvement. There were approximately an astounding 1,400 attendees, 175 poster presentations, 140 exhibitors and 205 sponsors and partners. Attendees came from throughout the U.S. and abroad to learn about the challenges facing our nation’s coasts and estuaries and represented all segments of the restoration community, including businesses and corporations, governments at all levels, tribes, non-profit organizations and science and academic professionals.

DCA was both a sponsor and exhibitor at this conference. Michael Gerhardt attended on behalf of the association.

To view the company-specific slideshows on habitat construction which were displayed at the DCA exhibit booth, click on the link below. ~January 2007