Piedroba successfully completes first year of Dredging Fundamentals Course

Piedroba today announced it has successfully completed the first year of teaching the Dredging Fundamental Course to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (The Corps). Luis Prieto-Portar, PhD, PE, Piedroba’s Principal and Chief Executive Officer and Pablo Prieto y Munoz, PhD, PE, Piedroba’s Executive Vice-President led the team through classes in Virginia Beach, VA. and New Orleans, LA.

During each week long session that included a field trip, the students learned fundamental dredging theory and practice through lectures, field trips, group discussions and examinations. Dr. Prieto-Portar highlighted the outstanding cooperation of the Army Corps instructors: ‘It was a true pleasure to work with instructors like Thomas Verna and Jeffrey McKee. Their knowledgeable and experienced contribution played a major role in obtaining great reviews from the participants’.

Piedroba’s assistant Instructor Pablo Prieto y Munoz enjoyed the interaction with the students, who represented different Army Corps Districts from across the country: ‘The diversity and specialized knowledge of each of the participants encouraged interaction between students and instructors‘.

The course covered basic information on how the Corps’ dredging projects are designed, built and maintained. Other subject matters included: hydraulic dredges, mechanical dredges, bathymetric surveying, sediment characterization, contaminated sediment management, cost analysis and scheduling.

About the Corps:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (The Corps) has approximately 34,000 dedicated Civilians and Soldiers delivering engineering services to customers in more than 90 countries worldwide. With environmental sustainability as a guiding principle, the disciplined Corps team is working diligently to strengthen our Nation’s security by building and maintaining America’s infrastructure and providing military facilities where our service members train, work and live.

The Corps is also researching and developing technology for our war fighters while protecting America’s interests abroad by using our engineering expertise to promote stability and improve quality of life. The Corps energizes the economy by dredging America’s waterways to support the movement of critical commodities and providing recreation opportunities at campgrounds, lakes and marinas. And by devising hurricane and storm damage reduction infrastructure, reducing risks from disasters.
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Our men and women are protecting and restoring the Nation’s environment including critical efforts in the Everglades, the Louisiana coast, and along many of our Nation’s major waterways.  The Corps is also cleaning sites contaminated with hazardous, toxic or radioactive waste and material in an effort to sustain the environment.