![]() ![]() The office did say it has taken steps to stop illegal sand-dredging, without elaborating. China’s sand dredging, said one Taiwanese security official investigating the matter, is “part of their psychological warfare against Taiwan, similar to what they are doing in Taiwan’s southwestern airspace,” where the Chinese jets are intruding.Ĭhina’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement to Reuters that Taiwan’s claims that Beijing is allowing sand-dredging boats to engage in “illegal operations” near Matsu and the median line are baseless. Taiwanese military officials and Western analysts say China’s gray-zone tactics are meant to drain the resources and erode the will of the island’s armed forces - and make such harassment so routine that the world grows inured to it. Taiwan has been scrambling military aircraft on an almost daily basis to head off the threat, placing an onerous burden on its air force. The most dramatic: In recent months, the People’s Liberation Army, China’s military, has been dispatching warplanes in menacing forays toward the island. China, which claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, has been using other irregular tactics to wear down the island of 23 million. Sand is just part of the gray-zone campaign. “You dredge for sand on the one hand, but if you can also put pressure on Taiwan, then that’s great, too.” ![]() The dredging is a “gray-zone strategy with Chinese characteristics,” said Su Tzu-yun, an associate research fellow at Taiwan’s top military think tank, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research. The channel was deepened to 45 ft and made 530 ft wide through Galveston Bay, and environmental restoration projects were constructed with dredged material.In Matsu, there were also many Chinese vessels that sailed close to Taiwanese waters without actually entering, forcing the coast guard to be on constant alert. Its previous expansion project lasted from 1968 to 2005. The Houston Ship Channel first opened in 1914. The Great Lakes Dredge & Dock contract follows the company's move of its corporate headquarters from the Chicago area to Houston in October 2020. AECOM says the entire project is expected to finish by the end of 2025. “Retrofitting our equipment demonstrates our commitment to Port of Houston and supports our goal of reducing our overall environmental impact as we strive to leave the areas we work in a better state than when we started,” Simonelli said.ĭredging on the first phase of work is scheduled to start in early 2022 and finish within the year. David Simonelli, the contractor’s COO, said in a statement that the company is investing $4.5 million to cut emissions from its cutter suction dredge and booster station by upgrading their engineering and installing selective catalytic reduction systems, which treat engine exhaust. The port says it chose the approach with the most reduction in overall nitrogen oxide emissions when it selected Great Lakes Dredge & Dock. The project will also include additional environmental initiatives, including construction of five bird islands totaling 20 acres in Galveston Bay, the addition of 376 acres of oyster reef pads and three new marshes built totaling as much as 800 acres.Įnvironmental concerns played a role in picking Great Lakes Dredge & Dock for this contract. ![]()
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