Applications — ports, dredging, marinas, reservoirs and subsea works

Ports and terminals

Available depth in channels, basins and berths sets a port's operating draft. Periodic surveys verify it, support maintenance planning and provide the basis for the design of new infrastructure.

Berth and seabed in one modelPuerto Caldera2025

Draft verification in access channels, basins and berths
Scour monitoring at quay and breakwater toes
Periodic siltation monitoring
Baseline studies for port expansion and modernisation
LiDAR of yards, quays and revetments in the same reference frame
Wave agitation studies in basins and berths

Track record
Sociedad Portuaria de Caldera · INCOP · APM Terminals

Maintenance and capital dredging

Independent dredging control makes it possible to steer operations, verify design depth and certify the executed volume against the contracted scope.

Seabed after dredgingPuerto Caldera2025

Pre-dredge, progress and post-dredge surveys
Theoretical design surfaces with maximum and minimum slopes
Volume computation and certification
Disposal area monitoring
Continuous GNSS base stations for dredger positioning
Modelling of dredging and disposal plume dispersion

Track record
Jan de Nul · DEME Group · Dutch Dredging (De Boer)

Marinas and coastal developments

The design and operation of a marina depend on depths in its basin and channels, and on the behaviour of the surrounding coastline. Combining bathymetry and LiDAR provides a continuous model of the entire site.

Orthomosaic of Marina Flamingo with its basin, pontoons and breakwaters — **Marina Flamingo from the air**Orthomosaic2025

Design of basins, navigation channels and floating pontoons
Breakwater and revetment inspection with side scan sonar
Beach profiles and volumes with LiDAR
Erosion and siltation monitoring at inlets and estuaries
Continuous land–sea models for engineering studies
Wave and current modelling for basin design

Track record
Marina Flamingo · Marina Loros · Marina Pez Vela

Submarine pipelines, outfalls and cables

Routing a pipeline to an island, an outfall or a submarine cable requires knowledge of the seabed along the whole corridor: its depth, gradient, obstructions and the material it will rest on.

Launch with the echosounder and acquisition equipment off Isla Caballo — **Survey for the Isla Caballo drinking-water project**Gulf of Nicoya2022

Corridor bathymetry for route selection and optimisation
Obstruction detection with side scan sonar
Sub-seabed characterisation for lay design
Current measurement along the corridor
Post-installation verification surveys
Dispersion modelling of submarine outfall effluent

Track record
UNOPS – AyA, Puerto Viejo · AyA, Isla Caballo

Reservoirs and hydropower dams

Siltation reduces a reservoir's useful storage over time. Periodic bathymetry updates capacity curves, quantifies accumulated sediment and assesses bed conditions in front of intake and outlet structures.

Arenal reservoir with the dam's intake towers — **Arenal reservoir, Costa Rica**Intake towersPhoto: BNP-CR506, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Updated elevation–area–capacity curves
Sediment quantification and service-life estimates
Bed surveys in front of intakes and bottom outlets
LiDAR of banks, slopes and the drawdown zone
Campaign comparison for sediment flushing programmes

Rivers, lakes and lagoons

In inland water bodies, bathymetry defines hydraulic cross-sections, stored volumes and navigation conditions, while LiDAR completes the banks and floodplains.