Activities

Fluvial & Marine Aggregates

Winning fluvial and marine aggregates for the construction industry has always been among the activities of DEME-companies. As a matter of fact, those were the very roots of one of the constitutive DEME-companies, Ackermans & van Haaren, which started business in Belgium with gravel dredging in the river Meuse at the beginning of the 20th Century. Gravel dredging in the bedrock of the river Meuse has always continued, in the eighties and nineties particularly with the dipper dredgers Samson and Durme, each with a complete sand and gravel processing plant. In addition, DEME has been involved for many decades in gravel dredging off Le Havre and Dieppe in France and supply to French gravel processing companies.

In 2000 the DEME Group took the decision to make a definite step forward in the segment of fluvial and marine aggregate winning and supply. The largest ever gravel trailing suction hopper dredger “Charlemagne” was built and fully equipped with a state-of-the-art dry discharge installation. Moreover, the “Charlemagne” beats any other gravel dredger ever built with its potential to win sand and gravel to depths of 65 m. This offers DEME’s gravel specialist DBM (DEME Building Materials) the opportunity to win aggregates in further offshore and less ecologically sensitive areas – a major trump card for future development.

The company DBM was established in June 2000 and has the benefit of an important portfolio of long-term concessions, spanning an area from northern Germany over the UK to the Seine estuary in France. Today, DBM has succeeded to build up strong marketing positions, thanks to partnerships with local companies and its presence on regional markets.

Companies

DEME Building materials