Ohio has created a successful way to separate the clean, usable sand from the silts, fines and toxins dredged from the Cuyahoga River.
“Instead of throwing a valuable resource away, sand is being used to support Ohio’s economy through jobs in the construction industry and infrastructure improvements,” the Ohio DNR Office of Coastal Management said in its announcement.
Material pulled up from the river bottom includes sands, fines, silts and toxins all mixed together. As a gloppy wet slurry, the material is pumped into a series of engineered sluiceways at confined disposal facility 12, located northeast of Burke Lakefront Airport.
Gravity causes the mix to flow slowly down a very gentle grade. Heavy sands fall out of the water column first and the rest keeps flowing downhill into other basins.
The Ohio DNR has just released this very interesting video, explaining these pumping and separation processes.
This project was made possible through a public-private partnership and grants from Ohio’s Healthy Lake Erie Fund, Ohio DNR said.