The OSIL Vibrocorer has been in use on the early works for the River Thames Scheme—a $758 million project to develop two new flood channel sections for the River Thames.

The River Thames Scheme, involving a series of measures, aims to reduce the risk of flooding for approximately 15,000 homes and businesses along the River Thames. These measures include new flood walls and embankments, improvements to existing flood defenses, and flood storage areas and diversion channels to temporarily hold excess water during times of heavy rain.

The OSIL vibrocorer has been used to obtain sediment samples in dense or consolidated sediments to determine the type and thickness of sediment layers present in the riverbed. It has also been used to identify any areas where the riverbed may be unstable or prone to erosion, which can help in selecting suitable locations for the proposed flood defenses and storage areas. This also helps inform the design of the proposed flood defenses.

The OSIL vibrocorer uses high-frequency vibration to penetrate the seabed or riverbed sediment and collect a core sample. It is constructed from modular frame sections surrounding a steel core barrel with a vibrating motor at the top. 

The OSIL system can retrieve sediment cores up to 12 m in length, with each frame section measuring 3 m, and can be equipped with additional sensors or tools to measure properties such as sediment density or water content.

Information on the composition of sediments collected by the vibrocorer help in designing appropriate environmental and flood protection measures to implement during the construction phase of the flood defenses.

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