A Field Study on Groyne Field Nourishments

Over the past century, the main channel of the Waal has experienced erosion of approx-imately 1-2 metres (Ylla Arb´os et al., 2021; Chowdhury et al., 2023). This erosion leads to various problems such as instability of struc-tures or disruption to shipping. To address this ongoing degradation, a potential solution is the implementation of sediment nourishments.
Recent pilot studies have been conducted in 2016 and 2019 to investigate the feasibility of using sediment nourishments in the main channel of the Dutch Rhine (Becker, 2023). Another possibility of nourishing is to add sed-iment to the groyne fields. Under the influence of currents and ship waves, sediment is ex-pected to be transported to the main channel, causing a groyne field to act as a sand mo-tor. To explore this concept, Rijkswaterstaat initiated a pilot project with sediment nourish-ments in three groyne field clusters along the Waal during the fall of 2023. The pilot includes an extensive measurement campaign.