County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN PORT, Docks and Shipping Fairway, Dublin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E1004
Author: Simon Ó Faoláin, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 721071m, N 734145m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.343665, -6.181770
Dúchas requested that the regular, periodic dredging of the docks area and shipping fairway by Dublin Port Company be assessed to establish whether a full-time archaeological presence is warranted during such operations in the future.
Dredging was conducted eastwards from the EastLink toll-bridge for c. 10km. The docks area immediately to the east of the toll-bridge was intensively dredged and the river channel deepened out to the mouth of the harbour (marked by the Poolbeg and North Bull lighthouses). Dredging of the channel was continued through the sandbank out into the shipping fairway for a distance of c. 4km. All of the area in question is dredged on a regular basis. The dump zone for material removed was over the Burford Bank, c. 2km east-south-east of the eastern extent of the area dredged. Dredging operations commenced on 11 August and were completed on 3 September 2001. All works were carried out using a large, deep-sea hopper-suction dredger, the W.D. Medway.
Monitoring of trailer hopper-suction dredgers is achieved through the periodic inspection of the drag-head. The drag-head is the only area of the dredger to impact the seabed. It has a large surface area owing to the presence of a protective grid on its base. This is designed to prevent large stones and other heavy material from being sucked up into the dredge pump and damaging it. The drag-head works by moving over the seabed sucking up loose material. Any hard material it impacts becomes stuck on the protective grid and the subsequent loss of suction through the drag-head necessitates its recovery to the surface for removal of the blockage. In such cases the remnants recovered from the drag-head allow the monitoring archaeologist to ascertain whether the impacted material is archaeological or not.
Each time the drag-head was lifted at the end of a dredging cycle it was checked for possible archaeological material. All material recovered was of definite modern date.
3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry
