ISSeP implements various research projects addressing different aspects of sediment management: mineralurgical treatment and reclamation of sediments in cement works (SOLINDUS project), assessment of the risks associated with reclamation of sediments by returning them to the soil (VALSOLINDUS project), development of a methodological decision-making tool for canal sediment management (GeDSeT project), and quantitative and qualitative assessment of sediment deposits in navigable waterways and non-navigable rivers (GISSeD).
Moerman Project – GISSeD
Financing: Moerman law (own funds).
Budget: €955,000, exclusively for ISSeP.
Project duration: started in July 2013 for 3 years.
Partners: project carried out in collaboration with the Laboratoire d’Hydrographie et de Géomorphologie fluviatile (LHGF-ULg) and with the support of the Direction des Recherches Hydrauliques (SPW-DGO2), the Direction de la Gestion Hydrologique Intégrée (SPW-DGO2) and the Direction des Cours d’Eau Non Navigables (SPW-DGO3).
This project involves a PhD student working on her thesis at ULg.
The main aim of the GISSeD project is to develop tools for assessing sediment flows and associated pollutants in navigable and non-navigable rivers.
A prototype pilot station for measuring suspended solids (SS), developed by ISSeP in collaboration with LHGF, was installed in May 2014 at the outlet of the Samme basin in Ronquières. The station is equipped with a gantry, built in the ISSeP workshops, to support the measurement equipment. The equipment installed includes a turbidity probe for continuous measurement, a sampler for automatic water sampling, a pressure probe that triggers water sampling according to the water level in the river, and a GSM modem for remote control of the sampler. The aim of this system is to quantify the flow of suspended solids through the Samme basin outlet, a significant proportion of which then accumulates in the Charleroi-Brussels canal at the foot of the Ronquières inclined plane.
The pilot station is also equipped with a prototype sediment trap (Time Integrated Sampler) that collects sufficient quantities of suspended solids to measure the concentration of micropollutants (PCB, Hg) associated with sediments transported in suspension. This sediment quality analysis system is in line with one of the objectives of Directive 2008/CE/105 to carry out analyses of trends in sediment quality.
Two similar stations will be installed in early 2015 on the Sambre, upstream and downstream of Charleroi, to characterize sediment transport and associated pollutants in a waterway passing through a major conurbation.
