IADC: Facts About Hydraulic Fill Projects (The Netherlands)

Want to build an airport in the water, expand a major port or restore eroded beaches? Then you need hydraulic fill. That is sand that is drawn from the seabed and placed by flowing water onto the shore or used to create an island at sea.

Fill material is then transported from the ‘borrow area or dredging site’ to the reclamation area by dredger, barge or pipeline.

Hydraulic fill is the basis for innumerable maritime infrastructure construction projects which are based on land reclamation. Land creation for residential or recreational areas, for industrial construction such as an LNG plant or nuclear power station. Hydraulic fill is also used for the construction of coastline defences and environmental and habitat restoration or creation, for instance, of wetlands.

Although the uses of hydraulic fill are incredibly important to our social and economic well-being, the knowledge of how to properly identify suitable fill and install it demands extensive engineering skill. And this information is not easy to find. Very little has been written about it. Until now.

This executive summary “Initiating Hydraulic Fill Projects”, based on the recently published Hydraulic Fill Manual, gives clients and consultants a first read as to why knowledge of hydraulic fill is urgently needed, how they should approach the development and initial phases of a land reclamation project and the specific steps that need to be taken to ensure that a fill project will have a successful outcome. Systems engineering, feasibility studies, risk assessments and environmental and technical considerations are amongst the important subjects explained.

Other Facts About in the series are: Site Investigations, Turbidity, Alliance Contracts, Procurement, Environmental Impact Assessments, Surveying, Soil Improvement, Dredged Material as a Resource, Dredging Management Practices for the Environment, Deltas and Climate Change, Confined Disposal Facilities, Environmental Monitoring, Building with Nature, Dredging Around Coral Reefs, International Maritime Conventions, Early Contractor Involvement, Dredging Plant and Equipment, Selecting a Destination for Dredged Material, Dredging & Safety and Subsea Rock Installation.

More info

[mappress]

Press Release, December 18, 2012