History

Anno 1876

Baggerwerken Decloedt’s history dates back to 1876, when a civil contractor in Brugge, Belgium, switched to hydraulic works - mainly maintenance dredging at Ostend. His name was Mr. Johannes De Cloedt, the founder of what has remained an impressive family empire for over 100 years. The company has carried out many maintenance and capital dredging works on the shallow Flemish Banks and the vital access routes to Antwerp and the coastal ports of Belgium.

At the time of the establishment of Dredging International as a full merger between Ackermans & van Haaren and Société Générale de Dragage (SGD) in November 1974, Baggerwerken Decloedt already had a stake in the merged company. Baggerwerken Decloedt had indeed been a minority shareholder in SGD, resulting in an 11,5 percent stake in Dredging International.

When DEME Group was established in April 1991, as a holding company coordinating activities of Dredging International and Baggerwerken Decloedt, the latter one maintained a stake of 18 percent at Group level. The direct De Cloedt involvement would only disappear, after family interest had been bought out following the so-called dredgers war of 2000.

The wealth of experience that was built up over 100 years, has made up the reputation of Baggerwerken Decloedt. Already before the First World War, the company partnered with other contractors to build the first harbour jetty at Zeebrugge, which was inaugurated by the Belgian king in 1907. In the final years of the century, Baggerwerken Decloedt again played a leading role in the construction of the outer port at Zeebrugge, which transformed the old harbour into a world-class deep-sea port. In a somewhat comparable way, shortly after the First World War Baggerwerken Decloedt became involved in the removal of blockade vessels at Zeebrugge - while in the first years of the 21st century the company premises in Ostend served as the headquarters for the raising of the Tricolor autocarrier.

For more than a century, Baggerwerken Decloedt has been heavily involved in the construction of ports in France. The company fosters a long tradition of hydraulic engineering assignments in Africa, including in Congo. After the execution of a ground breaking port construction contract in Bluff, New Zealand in the mid 1950’s, Baggerwerken Decloedt remained active in South East Asia and Australia - with such projects as the extension of the runway at Sydney airport, and very early land reclamation projects in Singapore and Malaysia.