 Piedroba Consulting Group (PCG), in a partnership with The Organization of American States (OAS) hosted a successful Executive Dredging Seminar in Peru last week. PCG’s staff traveled to Lima, Peru to visit the Autoridad Portuaria Nacional (APN) de Peru on August 21-22, and educate the 35 Port Officials in attendance on the different dynamics surrounding dredging projects. The Seminar addressed topics such as: Dredge Project Design, Contract Administration, Risk Management, Site Investigations, Environmental Compliance, and Performance-Based Contracting among others.
"The seminar was an excellent event. We are very satisfied and we are already planning a second seminar with Piedroba on Environmental Risks in Dredging. The keynote speech on dredging by Dr. Luis Prieto-Portar, as well as the lectures by Ing. Luis Prieto y Muñoz were outstanding," said Elar Salvador, Chief of Unit for Capacity Building, APN. I would like to congratulate and thank you, and Dr. Luis Prieto-Portar, for the high level and most interesting excellent presentations. Your outstanding contributions were of great benefit to the attendees and contributed to most fruitful discussions. I would also like to thank Mr. Jelle Prins for his excellent collaboration for the preparation of this successful Seminar. Thanks to Piedroba Consulting Group, LLC., this Seminar promoted the exchange of valuable information and it also encouraged participants to raise questions relevant to their daily work which, I am sure, will help to increase awareness and technical knowledge on this important matter.  Dr. Luis Prieto-Portar of Piedroba Consulting Group (PCG) has begun a new consultancy task for the World Bank Group, supporting the tender management of the $300 Million Rio Salado Project in the Buenos Aires Province. Both PCG’s Dr. Luis Prieto-Portar and Jelle Prins have already been contracted for different World Bank functions this year, and being able to do so now in Argentina offers a great opportunity. Dr. Prieto-Portar added: “I’ve spent many years of my career working pleasantly in Argentina, and to be able to return now and partner with the World Bank to enhance flood protection in the Buenos Aires Province and develop the competitiveness of the local economy through this investment is a satisfying journey”.
 Dr. Luis Prieto-Portar and Jelle Prins assisted the World Bank in organizing a weeklong Study Tour for a delegation of Bangladeshi Inland Waterway and Transportation Experts. The Tour took place May 14th to 19th in Belgium and The Netherlands and was a productive week full of knowledge transfer between a variety of Dredging and Inland Waterway Experts.
During the week, a total of four presentations were given by Dr. Prieto-Portar and Mr. Prins, covering the History of Dredging and Different Types of Dredging Projects to the specifics of Dredging Procurement and Performance-Based Dredging Contracts. The diverse program also included site visits to different projects throughout Belgium and The Netherlands. Dr. Luis Prieto-Portar added: “Whenever you’re invited to teach and share some of your experiences with an audience that includes high level officials, like we had that week, it is humbling. The delegation we hosted was well-informed, and a delight to be around. I am hopeful that by supporting this event we have been able to make a positive impact on Inland Waterways in Bangladesh”.  The development of Harvest Caye, a 50 million USD purpose-built island developed by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) for its Western Caribbean itineraries, included a significant dredging component. NCL retained PCG for the management of the dredging tender and project oversight. The dredging works were finished on time and within budget in the fall of 2016.
PCG’s President L. A. Prieto y Munoz describes the challenging circumstances of this particular dredging tender: “NCL was on a tight schedule, and in order to meet the required deadlines, we administrated a uniquely fast tender process last June that lasted only 21 days from start to finish and succeeded in attracting satisfactory and competitive proposals. We are very thankful for NCL trusting us with such responsibility, and look forward to providing continued assistance with their destination developments moving forward”.  Dr. Luis Prieto-Portar, Piedroba’s Chairman and CEO has been invited by the World Bank to offer his dredging expertise and experience in developing training institutions for improving water infrastructure operations in the Bangladesh Delta. Additionally, Dr. Prieto-Portar will lead and produce a number of tenders for dredging works aimed at improving maritime navigability within the region. The World Bank’s initial mission will take place early December 2017, with numerous world transportation and engineering experts joining the effort. Dr. Prieto’s engagement is expected to last for 3-6 months.
Piedroba partner Jelle Prins is pleased with the opportunity provided to his firm’s CEO: “We’ve been in communication with the World Bank for some time now, discussing our assistance on numerous of their initiatives, and we feel that this particular engagement is a nice fit for Dr. Prieto. His affinity for South Asia is well known, always enjoying his work in the region. To be able to contribute to the wellbeing of the Bangladeshi by sharing his dredging engineering expertise through partnering with the World Bank will be as satisfying experience”.  The Mexican Association for Port Infrastructure (AMIP), will be hosting a two-day dredging class jointly with Piedroba Consulting Group (PCG) on November 9-10 in Mexico City, Mexico. The class, focused towards Mexican Port Authorities, and Terminal Operators, will cover a variety of topics such as: optimizing adequate geotechnical investigations, the design of dredging projects, tender management, and claim prevention. Those interested in attending the class are invited to visit AMIP’s class website: http://www.amip.org.mx/web/POSTERDRAGADOS.pdf
Dr. Luis Prieto-Portar, PCG’s principal and CEO is pleased with the opportunity: “We’ve had the pleasure of teaching dredging classes in the United States and throughout Latin America, and to now be able to extend this educational service to the Mexican market is a great honor. Mexico, with all its ports on both the Pacific and the Gulf side has a long history in Port Development and Dredging, and for us to be able to make our contribution and share our dredging expertise through this promising partnership with AMIP is wonderful.”  Piedroba Consulting Group (PCG) has been retained on three new engagements in the last months; managing two dredging tenders across the Caribbean, and a claims defense in the US. In addition to the new work, PCG had a fruitful WODCON (World Dredging Conference) week in Miami mid-June as one of the event’s sponsors, hosting a Dredging Seminar and presenting numerous technical papers.
PCG’s Jelle Prins is content with the recent progress: “The June-July-August months tend to be a bit slower for us generally, and to see this kind of headway tells you a lot about where we are as a company today. We continue to pursue a variety of attractive opportunities that have arisen in Latin America and elsewhere, and look forward to continuing to build on what already is turning out to be a great summer for Piedroba. We are moving full steam ahead”. Another initiative that’s currently on the agenda is an October Dredging Master Class, to be taught jointly with the Dutch dredging equipment supplier Royal IHC Holland. The Dredging Master Class “Dredging of Ports and Waterways”, to be held in Miami from 12-14 October, is designed for those who seek to expand expertise in the field of dredging. The Master Class is designed for port authorities, dredging contractors, technical specialists, project managers, superintendents, consultants, and senior management. For more information and registration, please visit: http://www.piedroba.com/dpw-mc16.html for more information.  Piedroba Consulting Group and HR Wallingford teamed up to host an afternoon dredging seminar on June 12th in Miami that discussed adequate risk management throughout all phases of a dredging project.
In what turned out to be an interactive afternoon, contract owners, engineers and dredging contractors participated in productive discussions regarding adequate risk management and the optimization of risk allocation on dredging projects. Piedroba’s principal, Dr. Luis Prieto-Portar, was pleased with the participation: “Rarely do you get all these players from different segments of the dredging industry in a room, and talk about how to best perform dredging projects in a neutral and non-project specific way. We even had legal professionals who often handle dredging project related claims partake. “As a consultant, we often represent contract owners on a dredging project and have discussions with the engineers, contractors and other project professionals. “We frequently find that these type of interactions stand to benefit from having a better perspective of each other’s position, as well as having a more detailed understanding of what adequate risk management and risk allocation entails across the board. I feel all of us who joined might benefit from this when we work on our next project.” Companies in attendance included Van Oord, Royal Boskalis, Dredging International, Weeks Marine, AECOM, The Falcon of Doha, Manzanillo International Terminals, Trinidad Dry Dock, MTI Consultants as well as various other industry professionals.  Piedroba Consulting Group (PCG) and HR Wallingford will be hosting a half day Dredging Symposium, designed for dredge project owners.
The primary focus of the course, set for June 12th at the Hyatt Regency Miami, will be to address topics for the improvement of the dredging project management process; from concept development through post project close out. The format of the course will center on lecture materials juxtaposed by periodic, open forum discussion to ensure full assimilation of content. All lectures will be delivered by a joint team of PCG and HR Wallingford instructors. Course Objectives The objective of the course is to afford to each participant knowledge and understanding of the most modern and advanced dredge project management tools and methods currently available. Upon completing the course, each participant should have a fundamental understanding of these techniques and be able to apply them effectively on any dredge project. Training Program The course will be divided into four lectures:
 Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction conglomerate, currently holds a 12 year contract to maintain the navigability of the Rio Magdalena River in. Colombia for a stretch of 900 km. The project marks the largest dredging project in Colombia's history.
PCG’s role is to provide Risk Management services throughout all phases of the project, with the focus mainly being on the dredging taking place on the lower part of the river. So far, PCG has contributed by providing numerous strategic, contractual, and technical recommendations throughout the procurement phase, assisting with contract & contractor evaluation,, and dredge methodology feasibility assessment. In May, PCG also had the privilege of teaching a custom made week-long dredging class in Spanish to Odebrecht’s entire management team onsite. Luis A. Prieto-Portar, PCG's Chairman and CEO is content with the 1 year extension of the contract: "We are glad to be part of this prestigious project. We've partnered with Odebrecht on numerous projects throughout The Americas, and we look forward to continuing our consultancy with Navalena into the construction phase of the project. It's been a full summer for us with numerous dredging tenders, and we are excited about the progress on all of our engagements". |
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