For the clean-up of the former Volgermeer dump site,consulting engineers Tauw and Witteveen+Bos joined forces in 2000. Under the name of Adviescombinatie Volgermeer (ACV) they took up the challenge to turn this highly contaminated area into a safe and nature-rich environment. The remediation is by now approaching its completion and is a success. ACV has grown into a specialist in the field of remediation in peat grasslands since then. Therefore, cooperation will be continued in other projects.
Simple and effective
ACV has proven its competence in drawing up surprisingly simple and effective clean-up concepts for the highly specific remediation problems in peat grasslands. In order to cover the Volgermeer with a durable layer, ACV developed the 'natural cap' concept.
'Natural cap' in short means that by actively stimulating peat growth, the function of the synthetic cap will ultimately be replaced by an organic layer. In this way the top layer does not need to be replaced in the long run. Such a replacement would not only involve large investments, but also needless disturbance of an already developed ecosystem.
International opportunities
'Natural cap' is a simple concept and easily adaptable in other situations around the world. In many deltas dump sites can be found under circumstances comparable to the Volgermeer. In addition, the 'natural cap' concept can be applied perfectly well to the innumerable former pesticide dump sites in, for example, the former Soviet Union.
Nomination for 'De Vernufteling 2009'
The simplicity of the concept, the sustainable solution it provides and the widespread potential application, both at home and abroad … all these arguments resulted in the nomination of the 'natural cap' concept as a likely candidate for the prestigious engineering award De Vernufteling 2009 ('The Ingenious 2009').