Assessing the effects of offshore dredging

This project assessed how dredging sediment off shore affects the stability of the near shore, as well as beach landscapes, flood defences, erosion and ecology.

From:
Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development Programme and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Published
16 February 2021
Category:
Environmental management and sustainability
Topics:
Coast, Coastal erosion, Ecosystem service benefits, Natural capital, Sustainability, Understanding physical processes
Project status:
Completed
Project code:
FD1912
Date of completion:
31 March 2005

Documents

SANDPIT effects of offshore dredging - final report (52KB) PDF

SANDPIT effects of offshore dredging - summary (56KB) PDF

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Details

Offshore sand and gravel deposits are increasingly under pressure as a resource for dredging material for building purposes and for beach nourishment. The environmental impacts of extracting these offshore materials must be assessed to check if they’re within acceptable limits.

This European collaborative research project aimed to strengthen the scientific background used to review applications to dredge offshore sand and gravel. It addresses questions focused particularly on how extracting marine sand affects the:

  • movements of water
  • sediment and the underwater landscape
  • timescales in which they happen

The outputs from this project will be useful for those involved in regulating offshore mining of sand and aggregate. This includes technical advisers who try to predict the environmental effects of this activity.

This project ran from 2001 to 2005 at a cost of £155,352.

Published 16 February 2021