The Danish backhoe dredge is finishing off its work in Tauranga Harbour, with just a few days' work near the harbor bridge on the Marine Precinct project left.

Project manager for the Danish dredging company Rohde Nielsen A/S, Ingolf Judjonsson, says the work should be done by Saturday.

RN Dredging are currently working in Tauranga Harbour next to the old slipway. Photos: Chris Callinan.

They're working for marine precinct project director Phil Waredale, who says the dredge is basically levelling out the harbor floor to an even 4.5 metres at low tide in the vicinity of the project's lifting dock and along the sea wall.

He was able to secure the use of the large dredge as it came off the Port of Tauranga contract. It means the marine precinct work can be completed in days instead of two or three weeks.

When completed the back hoe dredge is most likely going to head offshore for work, says Ingolf.

'There's not much going on in New Zealand for the next two years, so I don't think we will stay around.”

The dredging company received its certificate of completion from the Port of Tauranga about a week ago.

Since October last year, the two cutter suction dredges and the backhoe have removed a total of seven million cubic metres of Tauranga Harbour bottom, deepening the channels for the larger 9500TEU container ships, the first of which is expected in the next couple of months.

The hopper dredges Brage R, and Balder R, undertook most of the work in the $50 million dredging programme deepening the port shipping channels from 12.9 metres to 14.5 metres inside the harbour and 15.8 metres outside the harbour.

The small hopper dredger Brage R is on its way to South America for its next job, says Ingolf. The larger Balder R is at sea, but has no final destination yet. The Brage R came to Tauranga from Australia, the Balder R from Denmark.