Wetlands
Salt Marsh Development with a Mud Motor Koehoal, Tzummarum, the Netherlands
The project Salt Marsh Development with a Mud Motor focused on the potential for furthering the development of salt marshes in the Wadden Sea by making optimal use of the sediment transportation capacity of ambient flows. Approximately 1.3 million cubic meters of mostly fine sediment is dredged annually from the harbor basins in the Port of Harlingen to maintain navigability. The dredged sediment is usually deposited in a designated disposal area in the Wadden Sea near the harbor. During typical operations, an unknown but possibly large proportion of the dredged sediment flows back into the port relatively quickly. This Building with Nature study, which is scheduled to be completed by EcoShape in 2018, suggests an alternative approach to sediment management: beneficially using the dredged sediment by depositing it further north of Harlingen and allowing natural processes to spread the sediment to nearby salt marshes.
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