Benthic Flumes
Knowledge of the stability of sediments on the sea or river bed is essential in our understanding of the impacts that engineering works (e.g. dredging operations or structural engineering) may have on the subsurface environment. For instance, dredging operations in the offshore environment may create an unstable seabed which is at risk of erosion from tidal and wave induced currents. This in turn leads to the transport of sediments away from a specific site to impact on another region of coastline, for instance a sensitive conservation area or a shell fishery, with associated environmental consequences. Furthermore, historical contamination of a particular site may mean that sediments are heavily contaminated – an understanding of the energy required to mobilise these polluted sediments provides critical data for projects such as managed realignment in which water currents are encouraged to return to a particular area.
Partrac are the World’s leading provider of in situ benthic flume technology. We provide a direct measure of the in situ sediment stability and contaminant re-suspension potential. Benthic flumes induce an increasing series of flow speeds at the sediment-water interface, generating controlled sediment erosion from which the sediment stability is directly determined. The instruments provide the client with two dynamic variables which are used to quantify sediment de-stabilisation, first point of sediment movement and erosion rate.
Partrac have extensive experience of utilising benthic flumes in shallow river channels, inter-tidal environments and the coastal zone. We also deploy marine flumes for sites up to 200m depth, primarily for sediment stability and scour assessment studies with the marine aggregates industry and at windfarm development sites.
Both models are unique to Partrac and are available for studies worldwide. For further details, please contact us.
Contact Address
Partrac Ltd
141 St James Road
Glasgow, G4 0LT
United Kingdom
+ 44 (0) 141 303 8255
+ 44 (0) 141 552 3886
