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Why is dredged material increasingly used to reclaim land instead of being dumped at sea?
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land reclamation
The Yser River flowing through reclaimed farmland in Belgium.
The practice of disposing of dredged material at sea is increasingly being replaced by using that material for land reclamation. This shift is driven by two primary factors:
- Economic Value: There has been a significant rise in the value of the land created through reclamation, making it a more productive use of the spoil than simple disposal.1
- Environmental and Practical Efficacy: Research—including studies using radioactive tracers—has demonstrated that material dumped at sea frequently returns to the areas from which it was dredged, rendering sea disposal ineffective.1
By utilizing dredged material for reclamation, engineers can simultaneously improve navigation facilities by clearing waterways and create valuable new land. This process is often facilitated by modern suction dredges, which can pump material directly ashore through pipelines or transport it via hopper barges to reclamation sites.1