On 30 April 2021 LIFE SandBoil (LIFE19 ENV/IT/000071 „Natural-based solution to mitigate flood risk due to SAND BOILS reactivations along the Po River”) has gained a Letter of Merit from the Environmental Risks Priority Area of the Danube Region Strategy.

LIFE SandBoil’s main priority is to mitigate the risk of backward erosion piping by means of an innovative, sustainable, nature-based, and cost-effective engineering solution, which topic falls under Action 3 of the Environmental Risks Priority Area – Strengthen disaster prevention and preparedness among governmental and non-governmental organizations.

LIFE SandBoil is a project coordinated by the Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering (DICAM) of the University of Bologna (Italy) and funded by the European Union within the framework of the LIFE Programme. Three associated partners help the implementation of the project: the International Agency for the Po River (AlPo), Officine Maccaferri Italia Srl, and the North-Transdanubian Water Directorate (ÉDUVIZIG).

The final goal of the LIFE SandBoil project is to develop a complete and qualified market-ready technology, intended to stop the progression of the erosion process beneath river embankment susceptible to piping and suitable for large-scale implementation. It provides an integrated solution: a mitigation technology and an automatic monitoring system for long-term effectiveness. From small-scale modeling in the laboratory to a full-scale experiment in a pilot site, a multi-step validating process makes its implementation on the Po River and replication of it on the Danube River in Hungary possible.

Continuously informing the competent institutions of the Danube basin – like ICPDR or EUSDR – for the benefit of the whole region and report the progress of actions and achievements is another goal of the project. LIFE SandBoil project also aspires to facilitate the dialogue and interaction between the Alpine Region (EUSALP) and Danube Region (EUSDR).

 

For further information please visit the website of the project!