Contaminated Sludge
Moerdijk Harbour Project 2008/9
Carried out by Arcadis BV
The sludge dredged during the Arcadis Moerdijk Harbour reconstruction was found to be highly contaminated by oil and a cocktail of hazardous pollutants. The water content in the sludge was bound to the polluted particles in such a way that the latent water could not be released with the filter press and drying with Lime was also found to be impossible. Water molecules have a strong electrical polarity, with a positive charge on one side and a negative charge on the reverse. This causes the molecules to bond to each other and to the charged surfaces of any soils that are being stabilised. Clay in particular has a high ability a bond with water molecules. Treatment with PowerCem did however prove successful and the University of Delft reported that the recovered product after treatment was an extremely heterogeneous material with a high construction value. All the dredged materials were used as a high quality building material in the construction of the new Harbour terminal as sea walls, roads and the hard standing base for container storage yards.
The container storage yards at Moerdijk Docks were revisited last summer where they are still being used unsurfaced as hard standing for containers and plant. These were constructed eight years earlier in-situ, from local soils and dredged harbour sludge . Used without any protective surface since 2009. The yard has proved extremely durable with repairs caused by accidental impact damage easy to fix with a RoadCem soil concrete mix. Bound working platforms for storage, crane operation and piling provide a far safer operating surface for cranes, rigs and heavy plant, especially when constructed in-situ at site level, allowing easy plant access and set up. RoadCem is a product specifically designed to engineer superior tensile strength and impermeability from soils of all types, providing superior long-term durability. Allowing the platform to be used un-surfaced and easily repairable for virtually maintenance free temporary and permanent works requirements..
