The Energy Polder: Feasibility Study on a Tidal Power Plant along the Western Scheldt

In the Netherlands 6,8% of the total electricity production came from renewable energy sources. Electricity was 17 % of the total energy consumption in that year. In total 1,2% of the energy consumption was therefore renewable. The objective of the cabinet to get 20% of the energy from renewable energy sources will therefore be a major challenge. All available means should therefore be employed to reach this objective. Tidal energy did not seem feasible for the Netherlands, as the tidal difference is relatively small. After research done for a tidal power plant at the Brouwersdam it turned out that production of tidal energy could become attractive when combined with other social interests, such as improving the ecology of the area. On the 11th of March 2005 the Netherlands signed an agreement about the Western Schelt. This agreement said that Hertogin Hedwigepolder should be given back to the estuary. This had to be done to compensate nature loss due to deepening of the Western Scheldt as a result of shipping requirements. By combining the desire of the cabinet for more energy production from renewable energy sources with the plans to compensate for nature loss in the Western Scheldt the idea came to gain tidal energy from polders. Because of this new function of the polder it is called the energy polder. The aim of this study is to research the economical and technical feasibility of a tidal power plant along the Western Scheldt. The attention in this study lays on the design of the structures needed for the tidal power plant. With this design a good insight in the costs is obtained. A design, a hydraulic model and an economic model were made to obtain insight in the cost benefit ratio. It turned out that the energy price needed for this plan is equal to that of offshore wind energy.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Overview and Design Considerations of Storm Surge Barriers

The risk of flooding in coastal zones is expected to increase due to sea level rise and economic development. In larger bays, estuaries, and coastal waterways, storm surge barriers can be constructed to temporarily close off these systems during storm surges to provide coastal flood protection. Worldwide, 18 storm surge barriers have been constructed thus far, but they are increasingly being considered as a future solution for other coastal locations. This study provides a systematic overview of existing storm surge barriers. It analyzes informationabout the main functions of each barrier, the type of gates used, and the associated costs. It also shows that functional requirements determine the design and layout of the barrier. The main design challenges are discussed. The study results may be of use in future planning and preliminary storm surge barrier designHydraulic Structures and Flood Ris

Tidal power plant along the Western Scheldt

Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

New Guidelines for the Quality Control of Risk Analyses of Critical Hydraulic Structures

The efficacy of risk models and risk analyses critically hinges on sufficient model evaluation. Nevertheless, the usefulness for the intended purpose is rarely systematically assessed. Poor or even lacking model evaluation of the applied risk models and analyses also troubles the asset management of storm surge barriers in the Netherlands. In practice, obvious flaws, missing failure modes and use that deviates from the original purpose regularly lead to unpleasant surprises, unnecessary costs and avoidable risks.Here, we introduce new guidelines for the quality control during the development, testing, maintenance and usage of risk analyses of critical hydraulic structures.First responses among stakeholders are rather positive since the guidelines help modelers and analysts to better understand critics and independent reviewers to structure their comments. However, the efficacy of the guidelines itself also need rigorous evaluation in the coming years. This may prove challenging as the application of the guidelines may also reveal that the organizations that operation the storm surge barriers are currently insufficiently equipped for the rigorous quality control of risk models and risk analyses.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Hydraulic Structures and Flood Ris

A Systematic Approach to Improve Reliability of Storm Surge Barrier Closures

Coastal defenses must be upgraded to combat increasing flood risk due to climate change and other factors. Storm surge barriers, large movable hydraulic structures that close temporarily during storm surges to prevent coastal floods, play a vital role in protecting estuaries. Due to the complexity of their risk analyses, important improvements are sometimes overseen. Our objective is to develop a systematic approach which is more likely to find these important improvements. We tested the method to three historic cases where important improvements were initially overlooked. We anticipate that our method can be applied to other safety systems with a large number of failure modes as well.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Hydraulic Structures and Flood Ris

Storm Surge Barrier: Overview and Design Considerations

In this study an overview of existing and planned storm surge barriers in the world is provided. A systematic analysis relates functional requirements (e.g. navigation and tidal exchange) to the main barrier characteristics (e.g. gate type, dimensions). Furthermore, as the costs of barriers are an important issue in the planning, available cost information is analyzed and related to main barrier characteristics. An approach to provide a preliminary cost estimate of new barriers is presented. Finally, some critical technical challenges are discussed and related to functional requirements and boundary conditions. Overall, the results of this study can assist in the initial design and planning phase of storm surge barriers for new locations.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Reconnaissance Level Studies on a Storm Surge Barrier for Flood Risk Reduction in the Houston-Galveston Bay

The Houston - Galveston area is at significant risk from hurricane induced storm surges. This paper summarizes ongoing studies on flood risk reduction for the region. Firstly, based on a simplified probabilistic hurricane surge model , the return periods of surges within the bay have been estimated. This model framework can be used to assess the effectiveness of several risk reduction interventions. Sketch- and conceptual designs have been made of a storm surge barrier in the Bolivar Roads, that would be part of the Ike Dike coastal protection concept. Such a storm surge barrier would consist of two parts, an environmental section for flow requirements (consisting of caissons with vertical gates) and a navigation section of the barrier (consisting of a barge gate), which would allow unhindered passage of navigation during normal conditions. Future questions and challenges for flood risk reduction in the Bay are identified.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience