Each year around 20 million tonnes of sand and gravel is extracted from UK waters for use in the construction and building industry.

Extraction of marine aggregate has the potential to generate noise at levels which could have a negative impact on marine species in or around the dredging area.

NPL has recently delivered a major collaborative project to measure the underwater noise produced during dredging operations in order to enable the impact on marine life to be assessed.

The project was funded by the UK Marine Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (MALSF) and involved the Universities of Southampton and Loughborough, and Gardline Ltd.