A study commissioned by LLX Açu to undertake a concept design of a sand bypassing system to maintain the shoreline adjacent to a new offshore bulk products port and adjacent inland general products port that are under construction at Açu in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The shoreline where the ports are being constructed is unstable with ongoing shore erosion issues in the existing coastal townships.

The proposed sand bypassing system will transfer sand along the shoreline in either direction over a length of 9.5km. Sand recovered from accumulating areas using mobile equipment will be slurried using portable sand collection units and pumped by the proposed sand bypassing system to outlets located in eroding areas. The system will be able to recover sand or deposit sand at any point along the length of the pipeline.

Apart from the mobile sand collection units, the system will comprise three permanent booster pump stations located along the pipeline. A separate pipeline will supply water to the sand collection units for the process, pumped from the inland port. The system will have the capacity to transfer at up to 120,000m3 per month of insitu sand.