The Walsoorden pilot project: A first step in a morphological management of the Western Scheldt, conciliating nature preservation and port accessibility
Plancke, Y.M.G.; Ides, S.J.; Peters, J.J. (2008). The Walsoorden pilot project: A first step in a morphological management of the Western Scheldt, conciliating nature preservation and port accessibility, in: Dohmen-Janssen, C.M. et al. (Ed.) River, coastal and estuarine morphodynamics: RCEM 2007. Proceedings of the 5th IAHR symposium on river, coastal and estuarine morphodynamics, Enschede, The Netherlands, 17-21 september 2007. pp. 1093-1100
In the framework of the Flemish-Dutch "Long Term Vision" strategy of the Western Scheldt, the Port of Antwerp Expert Team proposed the idea of morphological dredging aiming at steering the estuarine morphology. As a pilot project, the experts proposed a new disposal strategy, where dredged material would be disposed on the eroded tip of the Walsoorden sandbar. The feasibility of the disposal strategy was investigated at Flanders Hydraulics Research in 2002 and 2003. None of the results of this study opposed the feasibility of the proposed strategy, although final judgement would only be possible after the execution of an in situ disposal test. At the end of 2004 500.000 m3 of sand was disposed at the tip of the Walsoorden sandbar. After a one-year extensive monitoring of the experiment, it was concluded that from morphological viewpoint the test was a success. The ecological monitoring revealed no significant negative changes in trends due to the disposal test. In 2006 the in situ disposal experiment was continued, with a new disposal of 500.000 m3 of sand.
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