Modeling the geophysical impacts of underwater in-situ cap construction

Underwater capping of contaminated sediments in-situ has increasingly become an attractive remedial technique due to its environmental and cost-effective nature. However, there still remain several questions regarding the geo-environmental processes associated with the cap construction process. This paper presents a series of analytical schemes for assessing such processes and describes a series of laboratory based cap placement demonstration tests that were conducted to simulate the effects of various underwater cap construction techniques. A summary of the geo-environmental effects of various underwater cap construction techniques is also presented as a planning tool.