The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) has just introduced a new article in their newly redesigned Terra et Aqua, named ‘Is high quality sediment monitoring worth its weight in gold?’.
According to the article’s authors, Neil Crossouard, Dr Mark Lee and Dr Jonathon Taylor of HR Wallingford, dredging activities often result in the suspension of sediment into the water column in the vicinity of the activity.
Sediment release to the aquatic environment and the effects of this release are often the prime environmental concern associated with dredging.
As a consequence, the accurate monitoring of suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration is of considerable importance to the industry.
The successful implementation of sustainable dredging operations often requires an effective monitoring program to be established, which will include the collection of measurements of SPM concentration.
Monitoring costs can be significant for dredging projects (up to 5 per cent of the contract value).
Dredging is a highly competitive business so sensibly minimizing the cost of the monitoring activities is important.