This short course will discuss the challenges and opportunities for sediment beneficial use in the waterborne transport sector. The short course will draw from two PIANC Environmental Commission(EnviCom) Working Groups: Working Group 176 on Working with Nature (WwN) and Working Group 214 on Sediment Beneficial Use. Both topics will be discussed as they relate to waterborne transport infrastructure and an international collection of case examples will be presented illustrating how projects can effectively create multiple benefits while using dredged sediment beneficially. Several projects that have used dredged sediment beneficially will be presented as examples of how WwN concepts can be applied in the Americas.

PIANC developed the WwN concept to consider project objectives in the context of ecosystem services, and designs that rely on natural processes to achieve project objectives while yielding multiple economic, social, and environmental benefits. This course will provide an overview of the activities of the PIANC EnviCom specifically as they relate to WwN and Sediment Beneficial Use Working Groups. We anticipate publication of the Working Group 214 report on Sediment Beneficial Use in early 2023.