It is increasingly difficult to find sand mining sites on dry land. Therefore, sea sand is an interesting alternative, as much in Belgium as in our neighbouring countries. In Belgium, the percentage of sea sand production in relation to total sea sand production has continued to rise since the 1970s.
Sea sand is used in the construction sector as well as to protect the Belgian coast. In Belgium, sea sand is of growing social and economic interest: in the past 40 years, it has become one of the basic raw materials for the construction sector.
Extraction of marine aggregates in the belgian marine teritorries
To date, the yearly extraction volume of Belgian sea sand represents about 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 m³, almost 75 % of which is used in the construction sector. It is now also used to protect our coastline. Indeed, beach nourishment (filling) is currently the main measure for maintaining beaches at their optimum level along the coast. It is necessary to keep beaches wide and high enough to prevent the coast from being flooded during spring tide.
In Belgium, sand and gravel are mined in the Belgian part of the North Sea. This part of the North Sea is home to many human activities:
- sailing,
- fishing,
- the installation of communication cables and pipelines,
- the dumping of sludge dredged from port areas,
- military activities,
- construction and exploitation of wind farms.
Overview map Marine spatial plan 2020-2026
Sand mining is authorised in zones defined by the law called control zones. The quality and nature of the sand vary according to the mining site. Particle-size distribution and seashell content reveal great geographic fluctuations. There are five control zones in total and one exploration zone.
The Continental Shelf Service
The Continental Shelf Service of the FPS Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy is responsible for sand and gravel mining in the Belgian part of the North Sea.
The service's main tasks are:
- issuing permits;
- managing mining concessions;
- control of sand mining;
- updating the associated legislation;
- the management of the "Budget for Sand extraction" (the former Fund for Sand Extraction).
The Continental Shelf service is the reference for sand extraction on the Belgian Continental Shelf and has a lot of cartographic data and other documentation at its disposal. Every three years the service organizes a study day on which, among other things, the monitoring results of the past three years are discussed.
