The Western Dredging Association (WEDA) invites all authors and presenters to submit abstracts for presentations, panels, and planned sessions for the 2026 Dredging Summit & EXPO. The conference will be held at the Hotel Bonaventure Montreal, from July 20-23, 2026. Click here to submit an abstract.

This year’s conference theme is "Dredging Readiness: Navigating Shared Needs". The presentations featured at the Dredging Summit & Expo are technical papers to be shared to advance the science and profession of dredging, navigation, and marine engineering as well as dredging in mining applications. 

Please note we are accepting abstracts for:

• Oral presentation in standard sessions supported by a Full Paper (preferred)
• Oral presentation in standard sessions accepted by review of extended abstract and PowerPoint presentation
• Development of Special Panel Discussion Proposal (You organize and invite speakers.)
• Development of Special Technical Session Proposal (You organize and invite speakers.)

The deadline for all submissions is Friday, February 27, 2026, at 11:59 PM Eastern time.

Selection notifications will be sent Wednesday, March 11, 2026.

REGISTRATION
All presenters and panelists must register for the conference and pay the appropriate fees.  Upon notification of your acceptance as a speaker/presenter for the 2026 conference, you will receive a code to enable your registration at a discounted speaker rate. Conference registration will open in February 2026.

ABSTRACT GUIDELINES
Title of abstract: maximum of 150 characters
Abstract word limit: 400 words.
Format: Word .DOC, .DOCX 
The presentations featured at this conference are technical papers to be shared for advancing the science and profession of dredging, navigation, and marine engineering. The plenary sessions are not to be used as a forum for promoting commercialized information.

ABSTRACT INSTRUCTIONS
Choose one of the following abstract submissions and include content as required for each:

⇒ Papers (oral presentations)
Peer-review papers will be included in the Conference Proceedings. Preference is given to full-paper submissions. For full consideration, abstracts must include information on the study/project background, objectives, conclusions, and implications.

⇒ Extended Abstracts (oral presentations)
The conference will accept a limited number of presentations based on peer-reviewing an extended abstract and presentation materials. Abstracts must include information on the study/project background, objectives, conclusions, and implications.

⇒ Panel Discussion
Proposed panels must submit an abstract that identifies the panelists, specific topics to be discussed, and a summary of the overall topic and important discussion points. Panelists will also submit either a full paper or extended abstract by the abstract submission deadline.

⇒ Technical Session Proposals
Submissions for complete sessions on an important topic that contributes to the Summit & Expo theme are encouraged. Technical sessions typically have 4 or 5 presentations contributing to the theme. The Session organizer must submit a brief abstract of the session and identify the titles and authors of the 4 or 5 papers and the session moderator (typically the submitter). Individual authors must also submit abstracts and full papers or extended abstracts by the abstract submission deadline. The same requirements for final papers or extended abstracts and presentations will apply to each paper.

CONFERENCE TOPICS

Dredging Project Management

• Contracting, Budgeting, & Cost Estimating
• Port Deepening Program Updates
• Contracting opportunities
• Permitting & Regulatory Coordination
• Adaptive management in dredging projects
• Dredging safety
• Innovative design and project implementation
• Navigation
• Soils, Investigations, Surveys and Monitoring

Dredging Technologies

• Dredging research & education
• Innovative Equipment, Vessels, & Techniques
• Data driven technologies
• Reservoir dredging techniques
• Transport of sediments and slurries
• Use of centrifugal pumps
• Treatment of Dredged Sediments

Environmental

• Shoreline Protection & Beach Nourishment
• Remediation and restoration
• Beneficial reuse and sediment management 
• Engineering with nature
• Sustainable Dredging: Challenges, Opportunities, innovation
• Environmental Aspects of Dredging & Capping
• Climate Change Impacts, & and Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning
• Dredging for Flood Control
• Energy transition and decarbonization

Dredging in Mining

• Dredging in Mining for Resource Recovery
• Screening and separation of sediments
• Tailings Management