Dredging Contractors of America DCA

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As the national non-profit trade association for the dredging industry, the Dredging Contractors of America (DCA) provides a full range of association services to its member companies. DCA represents the industry on key issues before Congress and is an active partner to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public port authorities, state and local governments, as well as allied construction and maritime organizations.

The Dredging Contractors of America (DCA) is a non-profit organization representing the nation's dredging and marine construction contractors. Our members, committed to providing environmentally sound services, perform projects to protect and maintain America's shorelines, waterways, wetlands, and ports. DCA serves as a liaison with the public and governmental contracting agencies and represents the industry on key issues before legislative bodies. Dredging contractors work hand-in-hand with federal and local authorities and public interest groups in support of projects to improve the economy and the marine environment. Dredging Restores natural barriers that protect shoreline properly from severe storms. Beaches are America's favorite vacation playground. They are also becoming a preferred destination for tourists from around the world, contributing to the country's $26 billion trade surplus in beaches represent one of our nation's most important economic and natural resources. In developed beachfront communities, this resource often requires physical maintenance or beach nourishment. Beach replenishment has produced authentic economic revitalization. The number of tourists visiting Miami Beach tripled after its world-famous shoreline was replenished in the early 1980s. Foreign visitors alone were responsible for generating $700 in revenue for every $1 invested in beach nourishment. As wetlands disappear, so do many wildlife species that are an integral part of our natural heritage. Wetlands and marshes are an important and fragile part of the coastal environment. Forty percent of our nation's wetlands are found in Louisiana, constituting one of the world's most productive ecosystems. Unfortunately, we are losing these wetlands so fast that a slice of Louisiana the size of the District of Columbia vanishes each year. Over the last 50 years, Louisiana's loss is responsible for 80 percent of wetland loss in the United states. In other parts of the country such as the Chesapeake Bay, Southern California, Puget Sound, and the Texas coast, the restoration of wetland environments is a by-product of other, mostly navigation-related, dredging projects. For example, a large portion of the soil dredged from the Port of Oakland was used to restore tidal wetlands in nearby Sonoma County. Recently, almost 40 acres of marsh were created in the Anacostia river near the heart of Washington, D.C. in the first of a series of improvement projects planned for this damaged urban river. By utilizing traditional dredging technology and advanced electronic system, the dredging industry can recreate the conditions needed for aquatic vegetation and marine life to thrive. Dredging is playing an increasingly important role in comprehensive wetlands restoration. Dredging is essential to maintaining U.S. Ports, our gateways to world Trade Up and down the U.S. coastline, in every port city, the dredging industry is keeping our nation's trading gateways open for business. Together, these seaports handle 95 percent of America's foreign trade. The Port of Oakland, one of the largest general cargo ports in the United States, lost market share over the last decade due to navigation channels that were unable to handle the world's largest container ships. After many stops and starts, a project to improve the Port's shipping lanes has been brought to fruition. With deeper channels, the Port's expansion generates 4,100 new jobs, $500 million in annual business revenues, and $15 million in new state and local taxes. While the primary goal of dredging is to create and maintain safe and efficient navigation channels, the excavated soil is often used for environmentally beneficial purposes, including the creation of fish and wildlife habitats. In most cases, when beach-quality sand is dredged, it is placed either directly on the shore or in the surf zone to be delivered to the shore by natural processes. American Consumers Save Without the nation's inland and coastal waterways, the cost of most products that American businesses and consumers rely on would increase. That's because the towing and barge industry provides the most cost-effective mode of transporting freight. In each of the 41 states served by our inland waterways, maintenance dredging is essential. Without periodic dredging, the cost advantage provided by water transportation would be lost. Throughout the year, dredging contractors work to ensure the safe and secure transportation of agricultural and forest products and of strategic chemical and energy resources in bulk. As a by-product of dredging, sand is reclaimed for low-cost aggregate and fill material. This aggregate is used to construct and maintain roads, to rebuild levees, or for other public purposes.