Combining sediment management and bioremediation in muddy ports and harbours: A review

Abstract

This paper reviews two important sources of innovation linked to the maritime environment and more importantly to ports: the potential coupling of sediment management and (bio)remediation. The detrimental effects of dredging are briefly considered, but the focus here is on a sustainable alternative method of managing the problem of siltation. This technique consists of fluidizing the sediment in situ, lowering the shear strength to maintain a navigable under-keel draught. Preliminary investigations show that through this mixing, aeration occurs, which results in a positive remediation effect as well. An overview of port contamination, remediation, and the recent research on aerobic (bio)degradation of port contaminants is made in order to show the potential for such innovative sediment management to reduce dredging need and remediate contaminated mud in ports. This review also highlights the lack of full-scale field applications for such potential remediation techniques, that remain largely confined to the laboratory scale.

Keywords: Active nautical depth; Aerobic biodegradation; Anti-siltation; Fluid mud; Sediment contaminants; Sediment resuspension.