Pilot studies were carried out to evaluate different options for metal-polluted (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) sediment decontamination. Chemical and biological leaching tests were done in a 350-L capacity stirred-tank reactor. The use of short acidic sediment washing steps (pH 2.0-3.0) was not an efficient approach for metal removal. The addition of an oxidant agent during the first washing step resulted in a large increase of removal yields for Pb (53-76%), Cd (54-92%) and Zn (69-93%). However, other metals were not well leached from sediments: Cr (6-30%), Cu (0-34%) and Ni (1-16%). The bioleaching treatment, with or without chemical washing steps, allows very good removal yields for Cd (82-100%), Cu (44-70%) and Zn (80-87%). On the other hand, this method was not efficient to remove other metals like Cr (6-16%), Ni (12-21%) and Pb (14-33%). The metals solubilized by chemical and/or biological leaching techniques can be efficiently removed from solution by precipitation using lime.