Course syllabus

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Course-PM (short version)

ACE146 ACE146 Contaminated sites and remediation lp2 HT22 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

For all information below and more details, see full course PM and detailed schedule uploaded under the Module Course information. 

Contact details

Jenny Norrman (examiner), JN, jenny.norrman@chalmers.se, ph. 031-772 21 82

Yevheniya Volchko, YV, yevheniya.volchko@chalmers.se, ph. 031-772 21 16

Lars Rosén, LR, lars.rosen@chalmers.se, ph. 031-772 20 61

Paul Drenning, PD, drenning@chalmers.se, ph. 031-772 50 09

Guest lecturers can be found in the course PM, uploaded under the Module Course information. 

 

Course purpose

Aim

The overall aim of this course is to provide you with an advanced understanding of the management of contaminated sites in terms of sampling of contaminated soil and groundwater, evaluation of data, human health and ecological risk assessment, remediation techniques and strategies to reduce unacceptable risks, and evaluation of such strategies to identify sustainable solutions.

 

Schedule

For detailed schedule, se schedule uploaded under Module Course information. 

TimeEdit

 

Course literature

Literature is indicated in the schedule next to each lecture. There will also be some technical guides uploaded to Canvas for some of the software that will be used.

  • Swartjes (2011): Dealing with Contaminated Sites. From Theory Towards Practical Application. Springer: Dordrecht, the Netherlands (electronic resource at Chalmers library). Chapters that are included as course literature are specified in the schedule.
  • Fetter (2001): Applied Hydrogeology, sections 10.6 and 10.7 (available on Canvas).
  • Norrman, J. Purucker, T. S., Back, P-E., Engelke, F., Stewart. R. N. A suggested framework for statistically evaluating data from contaminated soil. Manuscript v2013-12-20 (available on Canvas).
  • Norrman, J. Back, P-E., Sego, L., Engelke, F., Wik, O. A methodology for developing sampling strategies for contaminated soil. Manuscript v2014-02-25 (available on Canvas).
  • Rosén, L., Back, P-E., Söderqvist, T., Norrman, J., Brinkhoff, P., Norberg, N., Volchko, Y., Norin, M., Bergknut, M., Döberl, G., 2015. SCORE: A novel multi-criteria decision analysis approach to assessing the sustainability of contaminated land remediation. Science of The Total Environment, 511(1 April), pp. 621-638 (available on Canvas).
  • Swartjes, F.A., Rutgers, M., Lijzen J.P.A., Janssen, P.J.C.M., Otte, P.F., Wintersen, A., Brand, E., Posthuma, L., 2012. State of the art of contaminated site management in The Netherlands: Policy framework and risk assessment tools. Science of the Total Environment, 427–428, 1–10 (available on Canvas).
  • Volchko, Y., Rosén, L., Jones, C. M., Viketoft, M., Herrmann, A.M., Dahlin, A.S., Berggren Kleja, D. (2019). The Updated version of SF Box: A method for soil quality classification as a basis for applicable site-specific environmental risk assessment of contaminated soils. Technical Note, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden (available on Canvas).
  • … and some other selected material for the literature seminar (on Canvas).

 

Course design

The course is structured around a set of lectures & exercises, a literature seminar, as well as a project which aims to give you a deeper understanding of data evaluation, risk assessment and remediation strategies in real world applications. The project will be carried out as group work. All exercises are described more in detail in separate documents. 

Details are found in the Course PM, uploaded under the Module Course information. 

 

Changes made since the last occasion

The course was first given in 2019, at that time ACE145. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some changes were made to the course in 2020 to adapt to an on-line format. One of the largest changes was that the examination form changed from being based on project work and a written exam, to instead being based on several hand-ins, individual and in groups. In 2021, all teaching was campus-based during study period 2, except for the final course week. The changes made for 2020 regarding hand-ins were kept as this was given positive response by the participating students, and so again for 2021. Since 2020, the new name of the course is ACE146 as the examination form is changed. This year (2022), there is one important update.  

  • As the two last years (2020, 2021), there will be no final written exam in January 2022. However, the 5 individual hand-ins will be replaced by 3 individual quizzes. This will reduce the time for students to get feedback on their work and decrease the number of deadline events.

 

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

- Develop conceptual site models for contaminated sites as a basis for sampling strategies and risk assessment. 
- Apply methods to design site investigations and methods to evaluate sampled data at contaminated sites, as well as evaluate limitations and uncertainties. 
- Apply methods for human health and ecological risk assessment at contaminated sites, and critically evaluate the result. 
- Understand and describe the design and functionality of commonly used remediation technologies as well as identify technically feasible remediation strategies for contaminated sites of different characteristics. 
- Evaluate the sustainability of remediation strategies, as well as critically review the result. 
- In written report and oral presentation, clearly present and thoroughly evaluate and discuss risk assessment results and remediation strategies at contaminated sites, as well as critically review other groups project reports.

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

Study plan

 

Examination form

The examination is based on participation in all mandatory activities (see schedule for which lectures and seminars are mandatory), passing three individual quizzes, and approved hand-ins of all group works.

For details, see Course PM.

Course summary:

Date Details Due