Everglades Restoration
A concerted effort exists in the USA by federal and state authorities to restore the Everglades National Park area to its once pristine condition. The Everglades has been heavily impacted over the last 150 years by engineering developments which have slowed the movement of water through the ecosystem, resulting in the accumulation of thousands of tonnes of sediment. A major scientific question revolves around the fate of the sediment if water flows are restored to pre-engineering levels.
Partrac advocated two complementary techniques to answer this question. Firstly we used our novel particle tracing method in a series of controlled sediment re-suspension studies; these indicated the footprint of particle transport downstream under varying controlled flow conditions. Secondly, portable flume technology was utilised to directly expose bed sediments to a series of flow speeds; this provided the client with information on the flow speed at which sediment is first lifted into suspension.
The data collected is central to the re-engineering operations and the restoration of flows to natural flow rates, in order that massive unwarranted sediment transport (which may have a negative ecological impact) is not generated.
Projects
Contact Address
Partrac Ltd
141 St James Road
Glasgow, G4 0LT
United Kingdom
+ 44 (0) 141 303 8255
+ 44 (0) 141 552 3886
