Glory Hole Excavation in Canada

      

Jan De Nul has recently been awarded a contract in Canada by Husky Energy to excavate a so called 'Glory Hole' for protection of subsea wellheads at a challenging waterdepth of 135 m.
This will be a new world record in dredging depth.
The work will be executed during this summer with Jan De Nul’s very large trailing hopper dredge 'Vasco da Gama', which is the same vessel that executed similar works for the same client 4 years ago.
The 'Vasco da Gama' is equipped with a very large suction pipe and a 6500 KW underwaterpump, and is the only trailing hopper dredger that can excavate at such extreme depth and challenging soil conditions containing stiff clay with boulders up to 5 ton in size.
The 'Glory Hole' serves to allow to install subsea wellheads below the surrounding seabed in order to protect against the impact of icebergs passing over.
 

Source: Jan De Nul Group, April 2007