Monitoring the Consolidation Process of Mud From Different European Ports in a Full Scale Test Facility
Type:
Presented during:
WODCON XX: "The Art of Dredging" - 2013, Brussels, Belgium
Authors:
Staelens P, Geirnaert K, Deprez S, Noordijk A, Van Hassent A
Abstract: The frequency of maintenance dredging work is determined by the inflow of new sediments and the consolidation process of the sediment. A test facility was built to evaluate the behaviour of loose sediment layers over time. The test facility consists out of a tubular pole with a water column of 20m. On the bottom of the pole removable buckets can be placed. In the buckets different layers of sediments are built up. Two buckets with a height of three and four meter with sediments from different ports were investigated. The different sediments were liquefied. The buckets were sample cored and analysed.
Over several months the consolidation process of the different buckets was followed up in situ. When the time constants of this process are better understood and also external factors like new material inflow, waves, tide, temperature etc are measured the sediment processes could be better understood and maybe predicted. Besides follow up of the behaviour of mud over time the test facility is also used to benchmark different sediment characterisation techniques. Since the depth and layer build up is exactly known an objective comparison of different in–situ mud characterisation parameters is possible. Over time the relation between density and rheology (strength) of the mud layers in the different buckets were followed up by an innovative sediment profiler.
Keywords: Free Fall Penetrometer, Rheology, Bulk Density, Agitation Dredging