A multi-layer capping of a coastal area contaminated with materials dangerous to health

Abstract

Environmental protection efforts in coastal areas recognise contaminated materials as a critical element of the aquatic ecosystem requiring careful evaluation for their potential remediation. This article considers aspects related to the design of a multi-layer capping for a contaminated coastal area. The area is located just south of the urbanised region of Bari, Puglia Region, along the Adriatic coast of Italy. This area received massive displacement of cement asbestos from residuals of a factory producing concrete pipelines for aqueducts and asbestos boards. The designed reclamation has been proposed in order to allow reuse of the 2.4-km-long coastline for recreational activities. For this purpose, the main objective has been to face aspects related to the problems posed by the design of the adopted capping structure and various constraints related to the natural environment. An extensive numerical study has been carried out to verify the effects of the planned intervention. The local wave climate, wave- and wind-induced circulation, the impact on water quality, and the biological system have been investigated. At present, the intervention is under construction.

Keywords:

• multi-layer capping
• coastal area reclamation
• asbestos
• rubble-mound breakwaters
• numerical models

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge ing. Vincenzo Campanaro, Director of the Environmental Office of the Town of Bari, Prof. Leonardo Damiani, Prof. Antonio Petrillo and Prof. Alessandro Reina from the Polytechnic University of Bari for providing useful information (bathymetry, geotechnical characteristics of the rock sediment bed, sediment and aquatic setting) for the numerical study and for the fruitful discussions. The authors also thank Dr Raffaele Vaccarella, Director of the Laboratorio di Biologia Marina at the Provincia di Bari for the supervision of the ecological aspects. The authors gratefully thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments that helped to improve the present manuscript.