Port authorities are testing different maintenance methods for making port
maintenance more efficient and sustainable.
Over last years, our team has developed robust modelling and monitoring
tools for Water Injection Dredging (WID) applications in ports. The research
was conducted within a TKI project DEL 101 "Innovatief Sediment
Management voor Havens" (PRISMA). The tools have been successfully
applied during WID pilots at Europoort in 2020. The results of the pilots
show that the newly-developed maintenance concept helped to
substantially reduce the maintenance costs and CO2 emissions from
dredging at Europoort, therefore making it more cost-effective and more
sustainable at the same time.
Based on the results of PRISMA project, Port of Rotterdam (PoR) will
continue testing the WID-based maintenance concept in order to adapt this
sustainable method for a regular maintenance in the port and under a
wider range of conditions. This objective will be targeted by further
research within this application and the development of new tools to
streamline the approach and make it suitable for use over a larger area in
the port.
Another approach for increasing the efficiency of maintenance in the port
is making use of Data Science tools. Our goal is to develop a data-driven
tool for optimizing dredging strategies.
Products are:
- Open-source laboratory and in-situ datasets and models
- Technical reports and scientific publications
- Description of the project results for general audience on the website

The goal of the project is to deliver the multidisciplinary knowledge which is necessary to successfully employ quantitatively assess and generically improve the current maintenance strategies at the PoR. In particular the results of the project can be further used for testing various water injection dredging scenarios and optimizing regular hopper dredging at the PoR.The project is aiming to deliver the following:- New dataset for calibration of sediment dynamics models- A quick assessment data-driven tool for optimizing dredging strategies- New system knowledge at the PoR- Fluid mud dynamics model for WID- Most-efficient operational parameters for WID (obtained in the lab)- A dataset for calibrating non-Newtonian flow models for navigation through fluid mud applicationThe developed knowledge and tools will be applied for optimizing the dredging maintenance that will ultimately result in reduction of maintenance costs and greenhouse gas emissions from dredging activities.

Maintenance dredging is necessary to enable navigation in ports and waterways. Sediments deposited by tide river flows and currents need to be regularly removed. The volumes of dredged material have substantially increased over the last years. As maintenance dredging and relocation of these deposits can be highly expensive and time-consuming port authorities and governmental organizations seek sustainable solutions to reduce maintenance costs reduce environmental impacts and at the same time guarantee safe navigation in ports and waterways.In a previous TKI Deltatechnology project (DEL048) the return flow of dredged sediment from the sea to the port mouth was examined. This project is followed by another TKI Deltatechnology projects ‘Modellering lokale slibdynamiek en aanslibbing Maasmond (MoMa)’ (DEL089) that concerns the local sediment transport and sedimentation in the port itself. The Deltatechnology TKI project ‘Innovatief Sediment Management voor Havens (PRISMA)’ (DEL 101) integrates the developed knowledge and bring new aspects such as system knowledge more in-depth modelling of fluid mud dynamics innovative in-situ monitoring methods water injection dredging and sediment trapping. The proposed TKI project is focused on applying developed knowledge and tools during expanded pilots at the port in order to apply the newly-developed maintenance concept for regular maintenance.

2020: kick-off starting piloting Water Injection Dredging for regular maintenance 2 system knowledge measuring campaigns (data collection) model advancement developing a data-driven tool.In-situ measuring campaigns data collection and interpretation will be conducted together with the PoR. In-kind contribution of the PoR will be used for this research.2021: conducting flume experiments calibration and validation of the models using the flume and field data application for various cases at different port areas final reports and scientific publications.Conducting flume experiments will be done together with TU Delft. In-kind contribution of TU Delft will be used for this research.

1 - Report on model design and sensitivity study (memo) - 20202 - Report on WID testing at PoR - 20203 - Dataset for system knowledge and model validation - 20214 - Dataset for calibrating non-Newtonian flow models (for navigation through fluid mud) - 20215 - Report on model development and application (final report) - 20216 - Publicly available and open-source new sediment transport model at PoR - 20217 - Scientific publications - 2021

The innovative aspects relate among other things to understanding better the transition of fluid mud layers to the consolidated phase. This will be done by conducting flume experiments. Anther novel aspect is putting into perspective the resulting sediment flows due to water injection dredging. This will be achieved through a combination of model/data analysis with non-Newtonian flow. In addition the understanding gained on the interactions at the complex water-sediment bed interface during WID will be explored through detailed in-situ measurements of fluid mud layers developments and sedimentation.This knowledge will be used to further develop and fine-tune the processes and model application being used to optimize management of WID through simulations of different temporal and spatial conditions. Near-field models will be coupled with far-field models to capture the processes at sediment-water interface both directly in the vicinity of the WID and the impact on the wider port area respectively.

Niet ingevuld

Alle partijen krijgen alle resultaten van het Project ter beschikking. De resultaten van de samenwerking kunnen breed verspreid worden. Partijen kunnen over deze resultaten vrijelijk publiceren. De resultaten zullen volledig openbaar beschikbaar zijn, met uitzondering van ter beschikking gestelde achtergrondkennis.

De informatie over dit project wordt kenbaar gemaakt via de website van de TKI Deltatechnologie (projectbeschrijving) en de projectwiki van Deltares (projectvoortgang en resultaten).

Na de datum waarop deze Overeenkomst in werking is getreden, maar uiterlijk tot een jaar voor de beoogde datum waarop het Project zal zijn voltooid, kunnen ondernemers en/of onderzoeksinstellingen, die op het terrein van het relevante subsidieprogramma van het TKI werkzaam zijn alsnog als Partij toetreden. Een later toetredende Partij zal een nader overeen te komen bijdrage in kind en/of in cash moeten leveren die in redelijke verhouding staat tot zijn relatief aandeel in het Project na toetreding. De overige Partijen ontvangen vervolgens naar rato een terugbetaling en/ of gedeeltelijke vrijstellingen van hun nog te leveren bijdrage in kind, voor zover niet besloten wordt de bijdrage van de later toetredende Partij aan het projectbudget toe te voegen.