Dredging Paper Award Goes To ‘Building with Nature’ (UK)

Stefan Aarninkhof (Royal Boskalis Westminster) and his colleagues at EcosShape | Building with Nature, Jan van Dalfsen and Jan Mulder (both Deltares) and Daan Rijks (DHV Consultants, now Royal Boskalis Westminster) won the Award for their paper entitled “Sustainable Development of Nourished Shorelines. Innovations in Project Design and Realization”.

The CEDA Environment Commission’Best Paper Award and the Euro 1000 prize was presented by Jan van’t Hoff, former CEDA Director, during the closing ceremony of PIANC MMX that was held in Liverpool, UK on 10th – 14th May 2010.

The winning paper proves the potential for (future) sustainable development of nourished shorelines. It does this by presenting innovative solutions in project design and realization that are based on sound understanding of ecosystem dynamics, construction processes and stakeholder demands. The paper explains the underlying principle to these innovative approaches, the “Building with Nature” concept, that aims to create through integral consideration of all functions and values of a coastal system. Two case studies demonstrate the application of this concept through the development of so called Ecodynamic Development and Design strategies that are central to the “Building with Nature” philosophy. One of the cases is about the application of mega-nourishments for coastal development (the “Sand Engine”) the other is about the ecological landscaping of sand mining areas, aimed to increase the ecological value of the area after the sand has been extracted.

“The paper addresses a relevant subject and it is innovative. It gives good, useful examples for solutions when natural processes play a central role resulting in win-win outcomes. It contains valuable information presented in a clear, logical manner” explained Polite Laboyrie, Chairman, the CEDA Environment Commission’s choice for this year’s Award.

The Environment Commission of CEDA has established this Award to stimulate the dissemination of good quality information related to dredging and the environment, including technical, regulatory and managerial aspects of dredging operations and dredged material management.

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Source: CEDA, May 19, 2010