
Having implemented one of the biggest investments in its history to clean the Gulf of Izmir, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality continues its dredging efforts. 1 thousand tons of material were removed in a period of over 60 month.
The dredging operations carried out by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality to clean the Izmir Gulf continue at full speed. The dredging ship, which anchored off the coast of Bostanlı and then off the coast of Çiğli, continues to dredge the bottom non-stop 7/24. In the first phase, 700 thousand cubic meters of mud will be removed by June. In the operations undertaken by the İZSU General Directorate, 1 thousand tons of mud were removed in 60 month.
Corresponds to 55 ships
Providing information about the dredging and cleaning activities in the Gulf of Izmir, Kadir Arali, a civil engineer working at the contractor firm DGN Denizcilik, said, “We have been continuing dredging operations on the northern axis of the Gulf for about a month. When we came here, the water depth was from 0 meters to approximately 3.5 meters. Our goal is to advance towards the land and increase the bottom to 200 meters wide and 4-4 meters deep. As we move towards the land, the water depth disappears. The birds are in a position to nest at the point where the flamingos are. We have removed 60 thousand tons of material in our work so far. This corresponds to 55 ships. Since we are far from the land right now, we only see mud at the bottom. As we get closer to the land, we will also see and clean various household waste materials.”
Our aim is to leave a livable Gulf
Stating that the pollution rate has increased as the population in Izmir increases, Arali said, “We are working here 7/24. We will remove 700 thousand cubic meters of material by June. During previous dredging operations, we saw everything you can think of in the Gulf. These are materials such as car tires, diapers, bags, bottle packaging. These materials either come to the Gulf from streams or are thrown into the sea. As a citizen of Izmir, I am addressing the people of Izmir. Please do not throw inorganic materials into the sea or streams. Our aim is to leave a clean and livable Gulf for future generations. We expect the same effort from you.”
We will continue to work with all our heart and soul
Recep Işıldak, who works as a mechanical technician in the Gulf dredging operations and works day and night to ensure that the dredging activities on the boat are not disrupted, said, “I work in shifts with my friends. The brain of the ship is the engine department, so we stay here at night to participate in the work so that there is no disruption. If there is a malfunction, the work stops. We will continue to work with all our might to clean the Gulf of Izmir.”
Current speed will increase, pollution will decrease
The dredging work in the Gulf will be carried out in two stages. In the first 180 days, a total of 700 thousand cubic meters of dredging will be carried out urgently and will cost 440 million lira.
In the second stage following this dredging, a tender will be held in 1 for the dredging of 800 million 2025 thousand cubic meters of bottom mud. Thus, İZSU General Directorate will carry out dredging of 2 million 500 thousand cubic meters in İzmir Bay.
Dredging works in the gulf and river mouth will improve the water quality in the gulf, and by removing the dredging material from the terrestrial points of the gulf, which reach depths of 20 centimeters, the current speed of the gulf will increase and its pollution will decrease.