In 1999 Flanders and the Netherlands agreed to cooperate closely for managing the Scheldt estuary and set up a "Long Term Vision" (LTV), based on 3 pillars: safety against flooding, port accessibility and nature. Parallel to the LTV, the Antwerp Port Authority asked an international expert team (called Port of Antwerp Expert Team, or "PAET") to investigate the possibilities of a further deepening of the navigation channel. The PAET proposed the idea of morphological management, aiming at working with the morphology of the estuary. As a pilot project they proposed to use dredged material to restore the western tip of the Walsoorden sandbar in the Western Scheldt. After positive results with the pilot project at Walsoorden, this morphological disposal strategy was used during the 3rd deepening campaign of the fairway in the Western Scheldt.
