powerclown

It seems that the Dutch have had a bit of experience with Flooding. Apparently, they do more than just smoke pot over there. (JOKE)

The Dutch have constructed a diverse array of engineering solutions to the problem of Flooding, solutions that future planners of the rebuilding of the Gulf coast might be wise to heed. These technologies make the systems (formerly) in place around New Orleans seem downright medieval. I found this both fascinating, as well as depressing, for there seems to have been little planning/preparation for disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

The US is still in the "Experimental" Age, apparently.
Live & learn.

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For the past 2000 years, the inhabitants of the Netherlands have often had to cope with flood disasters. The name 'Netherlands' gives a clue to the problem: 'Nether' means 'low'. It literally means 'The Low Countries'. When a storm develops and the wind stirs up the waves, the Dutch coastal area can become flooded. The last time this happened on a large scale was just over fifty years ago. Almost 2000 people died following the flood disaster of 1953. The following pages describe why this disaster occurred, what exactly happened, and what was done afterwards to prevent it from happening again.


The Deltaworks

-History

Studies conducted in 1937 by Rijkswaterstaat (Department of Public Works), showed that safety in many parts of the Netherlands could not be guaranteed at times of storms and high sea levels. In the densely populated areas near the river mouths of the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Schelde, it proved very difficult to build new dikes or strengthen the original ones. The first solution was to close all the river mouths: the Western Schelde, the Eastern Schelde, the Haringvliet, and the Brouwershavense Gat. This proposal was christened 'the Deltaplan'. In 1950, the first river mouths of the Brieles' Gat and the Botlek were closed. The Brielse Maas became a freshwater basin. This not only made the area safer, but it also provided Voorne with a freshwater supply. The plan was to build the remaining dams in the following decades. Unfortunately though, the infamous flood of 1953 prevented this from happening. Nearly two thousand people died and more than 150,000 hectares of land were flooded. People soon became aware that something had to be done, and very, very quickly. Twenty days after the flood of 1953, the Delta commission was inaugurated. The commission would give advice about the execution of the Deltaplan, that would, in the long run, increase the safety of the Delta area. Although safety was the number one priority, the seaways De Nieuwe Waterweg and the Western Schelde would have to stay open, because of the economic importance of the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. In order to be able to build dams in the rivers' mouths, some auxiliary dams would first have to be built in the Zandkreek, the Krammer, the Grevelingen, and the Volkerak. These dams were known as 'compartment dams', since they would divide the large area of water into multiple compartments. In 1959, the Delta Law was passed, in order to organise the construction of the dams. The building of the 'Deltaworks' was such an enormous project, that it was sometimes referred to as the 'eighth wonder of the world' - and not without good reason.








Execution
-The first works

By 1958 the first Deltawork was already operational. It was the storm barrier in the river Hollandse Ijssel. This barrier (not a dam) was of great importance because it protected the densely populated western part of the Netherlands (known as 'the Randstad') against future flooding. Three years later, in 1961, two more mouths were closed: the Veerse Gat and the Zandkreek. The water between these dams soon became fresh and is now known as the Veerse Meer (Lake of Veere).



Haringvliet sluices and Brouwers dam
An enormous array of sluices was built in the mouth of the Haringvliet in order to drain off excess water from the river Rhine. The sluices are able to be opened during very cold winters, to prevent the tide from freezeing. This could be necessary to prevent the freezing of the large Dutch rivers. It was therefore, only in emergency situations, that salt water from the North Sea would be allowed to enter the freshwater Haringvliet. After the construction of the Haringvliet dam, the Haringvliet gradually became fresh. By 1971, the seventeen sixty-metres-wide sluices were fully operational. The Brouwers dam, south of the Haringvliet dam, was finished almost a year later.








The Eastern Schelde

According to the original plans, the Eastern Schelde would be closed, just like the other river mouths. The water enclosed behind the dam would therefore become fresh, exactly like the water in the Haringvliet and the Lake of Veere. There was some unexpected resistance against the construction of a closed dam, because people were concerned that the unique salt water environment of the Eastern Schelde would cease to exist. Specifically, not only the environment, but also the fishing industry would suffer from a dam. In 1976, the Dutch government agreed to an alternative plan: instead of building a closed dam, an open barrier would be built, containing a number of sluices that would only be closed during heavy storms and high water levels. The unique freshwater environment and the favourable fishery conditions would be maintained. Sixty-two openings, each forty metres wide, would be installed to allow as much salt water through as possible. It was supposed to maintain the tidal movement. The Eastern Schelde storm surge barrier turned out to be one of the biggest structures of the world. The costs of an 'open dam' were considerable higher than the costs of a ordinary closed dam: 2.5 billion euros were needed to complete the barrier. On October 4th, 1986, the Dutch Queen Beatrix officially opened the Eastern Schelde storm surge barrier.



Storm Surge Barrier Oosterschelde


Storm Surge Barrier Oosterschelde


Significance of the Deltaworks

Besides shortening the total length of the dikes by 700 kilometres, the Deltaworks had many other advantages. Firstly, the agricultural freshwater supply was improved. Because the border between freshwater and saltwater was moved further west, less freshwater was required to balance the freshwater-saltwater division. The excess water could be transported to the north of the Netherlands, in the direction of the Ijsselmeer (Ijssel lake), where extra freshwater was welcomed to improve the water conditions.

Secondly, the complete water balance of the Delta area was improved. Thanks to the construction of the major and auxiliary dams, the streams in this area were able to be manipulated more easily. Different types of sluices made it possible to allow fresh water in, or polluted or excess water out.

Thirdly, the construction of the Deltaworks encouraged traffic between the many islands and peninsulas. Large parts of the province of Zeeland had literally been isolated for centuries. The building of the Zeeland Bridge together with a tunnel under the Westerscheldetunnel (2003), also helped increase mobility.

Fourthly, the inland waterways shipping was supported by the Deltaworks. In 1976, Belgium and the Netherlands signed a contract that would regulate the shipping between the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam. Obviously, this agreement had to be taken into account when building the Deltaworks.

Lastly, the Deltaworks have influenced new developments in the areas of nature and recreation. Understandably, a number of nature reserves were irreparably damaged, but as compensation, new nature reserves have emerged at different sites. Nowadays, dry shores are sometimes used as recreational areas. Whether or not nature has benefited from the Deltaworks will remain an unsolved debate. However, there is no doubt over the need for durable water management, in which safety, prosperity, and nature are taken into account.


Stormsurge Barrier Oosterschelde


Stormsurgebarrier


Other developments

In addition to the construction of new dams and barriers, at several places, existing dams had to be heightened. This was especially the fact in the western parts of the islands (Walcheren, Schouwen, Goerree) and along the waterway of Rotterdam and the Western Schelde. The dikes needed reinforcement because they were not directly protected by the large works. It is a common misconception that the Deltaworks were only built to replace dikes. In most of the cases, building a deltawork was much quicker, and cheaper than reinforcing existing dikes. Since the building and strengthening of dikes are time consuming and expensive, another deltawork was built to the west of Maassluis at the end of the 20th century. The movable barrier, called the 'Maeslant Barrier', can close off the New Waterway when water levels are threatening the dikes in the environment. Due to the recent climate change and the rise in sea level, high water levels are more likely to occur near the coasts of Zeeland and Holland. The number of people that live in the polders, several metres below sea level, has actually increased since the flood of 1953. The general consensus among scientists is that the reinforcement of dikes and the construction of dams and barriers is in no way the final siege in the battle against the sea.


Maeslantbarrier


Maeslantbarrier

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Additional Pics









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More @ Deltawerken Online

stevo

NewOrleans should hire the dutch to rebuild the levy system this time.

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Silvy

Yes, the "Delta works" are something my country should be proud of...
Too bad it took a massive flooding in '53 to speed things up...

that flooding caused nearly 8% of the entire country to be submerged.

It is sad that New Orleans has suffered a similar fate. Hopefully lessons will be learned (again) and the risk for future disasters reduced.

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spongy

Wow, great post. Love the research. I just hope we follow suit to prevent a reoccurence

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ObieX

I saw a special once on Maeslantbarrier, it was pretty cool. Those guys know their stuff. Actually I think the special was for Venice but they went into a lot of detail about this thing as an idea for there.

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powerclown

Indeed you should, Silvy.
Thanks spongy, I agree!
Obie, that's pretty cool...that particular barrier is an interesting design.

I wonder if it is accurate to say that the Dutch (and the Scandanavian countries) have a more "nautral affinity" with The Sea, than America. Hasn't that part of the world been a central region for shipping, fishing, trading etc. for hundreds (thousands?) of years? As you said stevo, maybe we could learn a thing or two from the experts.

zVp

You gotta also put into consideration that the Dutch haven't been hit by a hurricane before, at least, not that I know of.

Thorny

...and how much did that cost?

Ok, the engineering is brilliant, inspired, and above all, functional. The only issue is: do people really need to live on the sea floor? A nice low-tech solution would be to move inland a bit and dispense with all the gadgetry. I hear Belgium is nice this time of year.

Engineering solutions are never anything more than a stopgap. If you need an elaborate system of engineering controls, perhaps it's time to re-think. America has laid down so much blacktop and concrete, channelized so many rivers, and wiped out so many wetlands, that we now must have a branch of the military given over to controlling floodwaters from just about every rain.

New Orleans once had tidal flats and extensive wetlands that could absorb and slowly release surface runoff. This wouldn't be enough to save a city built in a swamp from a category 4 storm, but they would have mitigated the damage from cataclysmic to simply really damn bad.

I live in a part of the US that sees a fair share of tornadoes. I understand and accept the small risk that a tornado could knock down my barn or house, and could even kill me. The likelihood of this is not very great. My respect and understanding of nature is evident by the existence of a basement with reinforced stairs and survival supplies.

The people living in coastal zones need to understand that there's a very high likelihood that a storm will flood them and possibly kill them. It happens frequently. Hurricane prone areas are notoriously bad choices for high-density development. They're even worse when you tamper with the natural systems providing stormwater retention and protection from storm surges.

I'm not without compassion for the suffering along the gulf coast, but until we have a policy of more intelligent development, these tragedies will continue to occur. Engineering solutions will only put off the problems.

RCAlyra2004

Thorny, You make a good point...except

Except about half of the pictures that you see there are actually just "locks" to let shipping traffic through. Earthen dikes make up the bulk of the system...

Dikes inside of dikes... if one fails the next one stops the water, expensive... yes

but not what N'awlins is gonna cost... That's expensive!

For 1/10th the cost of the upcoming clean up New Orleans would still be high and dry. When you compare that to the annual cost of snow clearing in the state of Minnesota... the cost of maintaining the dikes in New Orleans would have been comparable. Kind scary aint it!

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shakran

No matter what the scale, it almost always takes a tragedy for someone to take action. Whether it's having to have a kid die in order for them to put in that stopsign on the busy neighborhood street, or having to have a natural disaster to get a government to wake up and protect its citizens.

Your country learned its lesson from its tragedy and your government got off its duff and did something about it. I hope my country is as smart as yours was.

thingstodo

This is pretty damn cool stuff. Fascinating to say the least. And the photos are awesome! Thanks for posting this stuff.

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Charlatan

Given the importance of the port of New Orleans I don't think cost should be an issue.

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Thorny

I don't understand an economic argument where cost is not the predominant issue.

Also, why should we provide economic incentive for people to live in at-risk areas? The land in the floodplain is cheap, it comes with the risk of FLOODING. John Doe buys cheap land, and runs the risk of having his house washed away. I bought expensive land on high ground. Why should I pay for the risk he took?



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(I'm aware of the social problems with the above paragraph, which is how you can tell I'm not a Republican, but that's a whole different thread.)
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Charlatan

I wasn't ignoring the cost or addressing the fact that people may live in New Orleans.

I was specifically addressing economic importance of the port of New Orleans which, would seem to me, to outweigh any concerns with the cost of constructing something like this...

If people living in New Orleans was the result of making things safer for the port then that is just an added bonus.

As for people not living in "at risk" locations. I think this have been covered before. There really isn't anywhere safe in the US if you take that into consideration.

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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke