PhD Position Efficacy of Sediment Nourishments in Groyne Fields of Engineered Rivers

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Netherlands

Updated: almost 2 years ago
Job Type: Temporary
Deadline: 14 Aug 2022

Rijkswaterstaat, the executive agency of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, will conduct a field experiment with sediment nourishments in a few groyne fields of the Waal River (Rhine River). Currents and ship waves are expected to transport this nourished sediment into the main channel. As such, the groyne fields may act as a “sand engine” and may contribute to mitigating the overall channel bed erosion in the Dutch Rhine branches.

The scale of this field experiment provides a unique opportunity to observe, analyze, and evaluate the relevant processes on prototype scale. This PhD project will contribute largely to the collection, interpretation and analysis of field data, and will provide knowledge for further upscaling of this approach.

The project objective is to provide insight on (1) entrainment of sediment artificially added to the groyne field and its transport to the main channel, (2) the conditions under which groyne field nourishments (gravel-sand) contribute to mitigating channel bed erosion and to enhancing nature values of the bank zone, and (3) best practices for design and upscaling groyne-field nourishments.

The method comprises:

  • Analysis of existing knowledge about sediment exchange between groyne fields and main channel;
  • Analysis of recently developed knowledge about the efficacy of main channel nourishments for mitigating channel bed erosion (Czapiga et al., 2022);
  • Set up of monitoring approach, subsequent collection of field data on flow and sediment processes, as well as ship traffic, in and around the relevant groyne fields with both standard and innovative techniques in close co-operation with the Central Information Technology unit of Rijkswaterstaat.
  • Analysis of the new field data acquired pre, inter, and post the groyne-field nourishments;
  • Conceptual and/or numerical modelling of the relevant processes of hydrodynamics and transport of nourished sediments, and the river response to groyne-field nourishments;
  • Development and improvement of best practices on groyne field nourishments.

    • Your advisors are Dr. Kees Sloff and Dr. Astrid Blom. A practitioner group, consisting of members affiliated with various water management authorities and consultancies will warrant the link to practice. The project is funded by Rijkswaterstaat, which is the executive agency of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. The project will be part of the NKWK research program Rivers2Morrow. Aim of the program is to study the long term development of lowland rivers (especially the Rhine-Meuse delta) under climate change. A close connection and collaboration with other PhD students in the research group is foreseen.


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