Measures for integrated long-term manamgenent of the Merwede river bed

Integrated solutions to the problems posed by the inheritance of contaminated sediments in the Dutch lowland-rivers are available, yet expensive. In this study, measures are tested for the Nieuwe Merwede. Due to a trend of clean sedimentation which will cover the contaminated layer, dredging the top layer (50 cm) of contaminated areas will minimize the possibility that erosion of contaminated sediments can occur in future. Even when combined with maintenance dredging of the shipping channel, currently contaminated layers will stay in place. This is not the case if the shipping channel is deepened further than the maintenance depth. Climate change does does not affect these conclusions