Tien jaar meerlaagsveiligheid: Essay

Hydraulic Structures and Flood Ris

Floating neighbourhoods as they were and will be; why dwellers would want to live on water

Workshop 3. Session 3.3: Expression and tast

De tuinman en de ingenieur over de zachte kant van technologie

Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

EMERGO: The Dutch flood risk system since 1986

PART I | A RESEARCH AND DESIGN PROJECT ABOUT FLOOD RISK POLICY SINCE 1986 The period between the Dutch flood disaster of 1953 and the year 2016 can be divided into two eras, separated by the year 1986, when the famous Eastern Scheldt barrier was completed. The perspective of water professionals on flood risk policymaking during the three decades before 1986 was dominated by the reconstruction approach of the Delta Works and has frequently been studied. The three decades after 1986 have a less obvious general approach, which has not yet been studied in depth as a whole. This dissertation attempts to develop a coherent perspective on flood risk policy during the last 30 years. This thesis’s research objective is to develop a comprehensive flood risk and water systems analysis framework, to be used for two purposes. First, providing a historical interpretation of flood risk policy by answering the main research question: how can the development of the Dutch flood risk system since 1986 be characterised fundamentally? In the core of the thesis, three main historical trends are identified. The first trend results from a study of systematic approaches to flood risk through the years, the second main trend addresses the relevance to flood risk of additional flood risk-related water system objectives (freshwater conveyance, shipping, nature/ecotopes and landscape quality) and the third trend involves additional new ideas or narratives which have been influential during the studied period. The second purpose of the water systems analysis framework is to meet the design objective of the thesis: to design an internet platform to represent the systems analysis framework and illustrate historical and future development of the Dutch flood risk system. The aim of the platform is to systematically organize and visualize the available studies and design projects, to educate about water systems, to inspire users to add contributions and monitor user behaviour to help indicate new research and design opportunities and support policy decisions. Acknowledged criteria for scientific and societal relevance guide the design throughout the thesis. Chapter 2 introduces the platform, which was called SimDelta in 2012 and renamed Flowz in 2017. A brief survey of approaches to water system planning and ‘serious games’ concludes that a graphic interface to visualise technical-physical complexity and socio-political complexity (or: supply and demand of analyses and ideas) is increasingly recognised to contribute to effective policymaking. A structure for the platform is proposed, consisting of six stackable software blocks: the base block contains interactive maps generated in a systems model, the top block involves communication between stakeholders to make choices in a virtual problem-solution space. Usage over the internet makes it possible to record preferences, and ‘crowdsource’ corrections, improvements and new ideas. The extent to which the concept can contribute to policymaking can only be tested by developing it step-by-step. Chances for success will depend on how the platform relates to existing ways information is obtained and existing types of decision support. PART II | AN INTEGRATED FLOOD RISK AND WATER SYSTEMS ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK (not added here…) PART III | STRUGGLING IN ‘MASLOW’S HIERARCHY FOR WATER INFRASTRUCTURE (not added here…).Hydraulic Structures and Flood Ris

Rhine Estuary Closable but Open: An integrated systems approach to floodproofing the Rhine and Meuse estuaries in the 21st century

In the spring of 2008, Delft University of Technology wrote a report for the Second Delta Committee, a body set up to advise the Dutch government and parliament on the Netherlands’ long-term flood risk policy. The Delft report included a colourful drawing of a solution for Rotterdam and the Drecht Cities, and the Delta Committee used this image to illustrate their ‘closable-but-open’ recommendation for the Rhine-Meuse estuary and explicitly recommended further research.Hydraulic Structures and Flood Ris

Moveable flood barriers in the Rhine-Meuse estuary

It is possible to reduce flood risk in estuaries without having to drastically modify the river banks by levees or to block shipping routes and ecological flows by dams. ‘Storm surge barriers’ close off a river mouth at times of high sea water levels, but keep the river open during calmer times. ‘Moveable river flood barriers’ direct a river towards less urbanised parts of the delta. It is likely that with climate change and continuing economic growth more of these barriers will be built worldwide. The influential Dutch state commission the ‘Delta Commission’ has adopted an idea by Delft University of Technology to flood-proof the Dutch Rhine-Meuse delta by a number of existing and new moveable barriers. These will direct high water flows in desired directions, particularly at times when a storm at sea coincides with high river discharges. This would create a historically complex system of flood defenses, thus needing thorough modelling and more detailed design to evaluate benefits and costs. This paper will compare a number of alternatives as follows: locate the various barriers on different locations, see where additional river widenings would be possible, calculate the remaining required levee modifications (dictated by Dutch national flood law) as a function of sea level rise, determine the effects on urbanisation of the river banks, on shipping, and if possible also on ecological flows. This comparison will in this paper not lead to the ‘best configuration’, but to valuable insight in the system. It appears that improving the high water prediction errors and the location, failure probability, operating regimes and architecture of the barriers will increase benefits and reduce costs of the entire flood protection system. This paper follows from a multidisciplinary, explorative and practically-oriented research project (11 different researchers and consultants) conducted under the Dutch ‘Hotspot Rotterdam - Knowledge for Climate’ programme in 2010.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

SimDelta global: Towards a standardised interactive model for water infrastructure development

The research project ‘SimDelta’ builds on novel internet technology to support the development of the Rhine-Meuse delta water infrastructure. It has three goals: education, organisation of research and design studies, and stakeholder polling. A current question is how the SimDelta technology could be made transferable to systems outside Europe, such as in California, Shanghai, Thailand and Indonesia. Fundamentally, all water systems are similar. Technically they differ in scale, geometry, resolution and functional emphasis, but system boundaries can be standardised. It is essential that SimDelta graphically acknowledges different data quality levels, to allow for standardisation and piecemeal development. Political coordination of infrastructure improvements appears to be difficult everywhere. Since SimDelta aims to clarify connections between high and low scale levels, it is expected to benefit the development of any water system. However, strategically it is recommended to start with the California system, for reasons of scientific maturity and political openness.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Keteneffecten Japan ook bij overstromingsrampen in Nederland te verwachten

De gevolgen van de tsunami in Japan hebben zich uitgestrekt tot ver buiten het getroffen gebied en troffen kerncentrales en de nationale energievoorziening en economie. Ook bij een watersnood en andere grote rampen in Nederland zijn zulke keteneffecten te verwachten, bij voorbeeld in de Rotterdamse haven en bij chemische installaties in binnen- en buitendijkse gebieden.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Beantwoording van vragen DP Rijnmond-Drechtsteden: Onderzoek faalkans - afsluitbare waterkeringen in de Rijnmond

Op basis van twee eerdere onderzoeksresultaten wordt nader onderzoek gedaan naar effecten van klimaatverandering op de maatgevende hoogwaterstanden. Om tot een betere afstemming te komen zijn vijf nadere onderzoeksvragen gesteld door Delta-deelprogramma Rijnmond-Drechtsteden (DP-RD). Specifiek gaat het om de faalkans van de Maeslantkering.kennis voor klimaa

The Flood House Concept: A New Approach in Reducing Flood Vulnerability

Deltas throughout the world are vulnerable to natural hazards. New Orleans provides a recent and obvious example. We analyzed the situation in New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta after hurricane Katrina has passed, from a vulnerability perspective. Vulnerability can be subdivided into four components: threshold capacity, coping capacity, recovery capacity and adaptive capacity. The vulnerability of New Orleans could be decreased by increasing these capacities. We propose Flood House as a concept to improve the four vulnerability capacities simultaneously. The Flood House is a flood-proof water management centre, in which people, science, government and business come together, first to remember victims of Katrina, but second to learn, discuss and create new - joint - ideas on all kinds of water management and flood related issues. This results in innovative strategies, policies and products to increase individual and collective safety against further future floodings. Pre-conditions for success are adaptation to local circumstances and a differentiated approach to, and platforms for, the different societal stakeholders. The Flood House facilitates an innovative approach to governance on disaster management and could therefore even have a function during hurricanes. Once it has been tested and proven itself, the concept could be transplanted to other delta regions throughout the world