Mud dynamics in the Belgian coastal zone and siltation in the harbor of Zeebrugge

Ports are important drivers for economic activity. For the Port of Zeebrugge, important sectors include cars, containers and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Due to significant siltation, frequent maintenance dredging is necessary in order to ensure the nautical accessibility. For Zeebrugge, that responsibility falls on the Flemish department of...

Transport and Morphodynamics in a Fine Sediment Estuary: From Conceptual Understanding to Numerical Modeling

This dissertation presents a study of fine sediment transport and morphodynamics in estuarine settings using data from the Lower Passaic River (LPR), located in New Jersey, USA. Originally a relatively shallow system, it has been dredged and deepened for navigation purposes from the late-1800s onwards, along with other modifications such as...

Deposition and erosion of silt-rich sediment-water mixtures

From a granulometric point of view, sediment can be classified as sand, silt and clay. Silt is thereby defined as sediment with particle sizes equal to, or larger than 2 μm and smaller than 63 μm, with quartz or feldspar as base mineral. Note that quartz and feldspar particles can be smaller than 2 μm. To date, our knowledge on deposition and...

Consolidation and drying of slurries: A Building with Nature study for the Marker Wadden

The Marker Wadden project aims to improve the ecosystem of Lake Markermeer (The Netherlands) by constructing a wetland with sediment from the lake. Sediment is dredged from the bed, and the resulting slurries are pumped into the project area. During this process, segregation and oxidation of the sediment may occur. The native sediment...

Flocculation and consolidation of cohesive sediments under the influence of coagulant and flocculant

This thesis focuses on the coagulation and flocculation processes of cohesive sediments under the influence of polyelectrolyte. For this study clay particles and anionic and cationic flocculants were used. The influence of the shear stresses on the flocculation demonstrated that the shear stress is the parameter that influences the most the...

Effect of biota on fine sediment transport processes: A study of Lake Markermeer

Over the years, Lake Markermeer, formerly a sea arm of the North Sea, has experienced a decline in some of its ecological values. A high suspended sediment concentration in the water column of the lake is believed to be one of the causes of this ecological deterioration. Currently, short term suspended sediment dynamics are well understood. This...

On the hindered settling of suspensions of mud and mud-sand mixtures

Highly concentrated suspensions are present in many natural environments. When the concentration becomes large enough, particles start to interfere with each other and their settling velocity reduces. This is called hindered settling. As a result of the reduced settling velocity, particles remain in the water column for a longer time and the...