Dredging - soil plug removal

Pile Dredging Solutions - soil plug removal

DECO Subsea owns and operates a unique range of in‑house–designed pile dredging tools to support our internal AWJ cutting operations. Our systems remove internal soil plugs in piles, conductors and caissons, handling everything from loose sand to extremely stiff clays, grout and rock to create full internal access for cutting and foundation removal.

Clay/grout/rock dredging

We offer a full toolbox of dredging solutions for different soil types and pile diameters. Our multi‑functional soil plug removal tools can be adapted to a wide diameter range and have been successfully deployed in very stiff clays, grout, sand and rock‑like materials. Jetting‑based systems have operated on clays above 600 kPa, limestone up to 116 MPa and grout up to 135 MPa.


For extremely cohesive soils, we integrate a mechanical soil‑cutting module designed for very stiff clays (USS > 1200 kPa), concrete and rock. Combined jetting/mechanical configurations provide both flexibility and high production rates, even in the most demanding seabed conditions.

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Yellow cylindrical industrial equipment, likely offshore, with a black hose connected.
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Sand dredging

For non‑cohesive soils such as loose sand and gravel, DECO Subsea uses jet‑assisted airlift systems and submersible hydraulic dredge pumps that deliver high production rates with controlled excavation. Where required, airlift systems can be enhanced with waterjets or combined into specialised micro‑cutter suction dredges for precision work, as demonstrated on projects for the Belgian Navy.