Morphological development of a mega-nourishment; first observations at the sand engine

Large (mega-scale) nourishments have been proposed as a promising alternative for traditional beach and shoreface nourishments, especially for locations with large structural erosion and sucient sediment to dredge. This paper examines the initial bathymetric evolution of the Sand Engine, a mega-nourishment of 17 million m3 protruding almost 1 km seaward from its surrounding coast. Topographic surveys show that, despite the blunt initial shape of the nourishment, the sediment is reworked into a nearly symmetrical (bell curve like) shape in less than 1.5 years. The cross-shore extent decreased by 150 m in this period which is a reduction of 15%of its original extent. Simultaneously, the alongshore size of the nourishment increased by 60 % as the sediment is redistributed to the adjacent coasts. This is also reflected in the large 1.6 million m3 loss of sediment on the peninsula. Almost 70 % of this volume is found to accrete in adjacent coastal sections. Although not all sediment loss from the peninsula could be relocated, the findings reveal that the Sand Engine mega nourishment is feeding its surrounding coast substantially

Initial spreading of a mega feeder nourishment : Observations of the Sand Engine pilot project

Sand nourishments are a widely applied technique to increase beach width for recreation or coastal safety. As the size of these nourishments increases, new questions arise on the adaptation of the coastal system after such large unnatural shapes have been implemented. This paper presents the initial morphological evolution after implementation of a mega-nourishment project at the Dutch coast intended to feed the surrounding beaches. In total 21.5 million m3 dredged material was used for two shoreface nourishments and a large sandy peninsula. The Sand Engine peninsula, a highly concentrated nourishment of 17 million m3 of sand in the shape of a sandy hook and protruding 1 km from shore, was measured intensively on a monthly scale in the first 18 months after completion. We examine the rapid bathymetric evolution with concurrent offshore wave forcing to investigate the feeding behaviour of the nourishment to the adjacent coast. Our observations show a large shoreline retreat of O (150 m) along the outer perimeter of the peninsula, with locally up to 300 m retreat. The majority (72%) of the volumetric losses in sediment on the peninsula (1.8 million m3) were compensated by accretion on adjacent coastal sections and dunes, confirming the feeding property of the mega nourishment. Further analyses show that the morphological changes were most pronounced in the first 6 months while the planform curvature reduced and the surf zone slope flattened to pre-nourishment values. In the following 12 months the changes were more moderate. Overall, the feeding property was strongly correlated to incident wave forcing, such that months with high incoming waves resulted in more alongshore spreading. Months with small wave heights resulted in minimal change in sediment distribution alongshore and mostly cross-shore movement of sediment

ShoreScape: sustainable co-evolution of the natural and built environment along sandy shores

Landscape ArchitectureOLD Urban Composition

Morphological Development of a Mega-Nourishment: First Observations at the Sand Engine

Large (mega-scale) nourishments have been proposed as a promising alternative for traditional beach and shoreface nourishments, especially for locations with large structural erosion and sufficient sediment to dredge. This paper examines the initial bathymetric evolution of the Sand Engine, a mega-nourishment of 17 million m3 protruding almost 1 km seaward from its surrounding coast. Topographic surveys show that, despite the blunt initial shape of the nourishment, the sediment is reworked into a nearly symmetrical (bell curve like) shape in less than 1.5 years. The cross-shore extent decreased by 150 m in this period which is a reduction of 15 % of its original extent. Simultaneously, the alongshore size of the nourishment increased by 60 % as the sediment is redistributed to the adjacent coasts. This is also reflected in the large 1.6 million m3 loss of sediment on the peninsula. Almost 70 % of this volume is found to accrete in adjacent coastal sections. Although not all sediment loss from the peninsula could be relocated, the findings reveal that the Sand Engine mega nourishment is feeding its surrounding coast substantially.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Prior use of therapeutic anticoagulation does not protect against COVID-19 related clinical outcomes in hospitalized patients: A propensity score-matched cohort study

The hypercoagulable state observed in COVID-19 could be responsible for morbidity and mortality. In this retrospective study we investigated whether therapeutic anticoagulation prior to infection has a beneficial effect in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. This study included 1154 COVID-19 patients admitted to 6 hospitals in the Netherlands between March and May 2020. We applied 1:3 propensity score matching to evaluate the association between prior therapeutic anticoagulation use and clinical outcome, with in hospital mortality as primary endpoint. In total, 190 (16%) patients used therapeutic anticoagulation prior to admission. In the propensity score matched analyses, we observed no associations between prior use of therapeutic anticoagulation and overall mortality (risk ratio 1.02 [95% confidence interval; 0.80-1.30]) or length of hospital stay (7.0 [4-12] vs. 7.0 [4-12] days, P = .69), although we observed a lower risk of pulmonary embolism (0.19 [0.05-0.80]). This study shows that prior use of therapeutic anticoagulation is not associated with improved clinical outcome in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

The sand engine: A solution for vulnerable deltas in the 21st century?

The Netherlands’ strategy to combat coastal erosion since 1990 has been through nourishment, initially as beach nourishments but more and more as shoreface nourishments. In the light of sea level rise projections the yearly nourishment magnitudes continue to increase. In view of this an innovative soft engineering intervention, comprising an unprecedented 21 Mm3 sand nourishment known as the Sand Engine, has recently been implemented in the Netherlands. The Sand Engine nourishment is a pilot project to test the effectiveness and efficiency of a local meganourishment as a measure to account for the anticipated increased coastal recession in this century. The proposed concept, a single mega-nourishment, once every 20 years, is expected to be more efficient and effective in the long term than traditional beach and shoreface nourishments, presently being used at the Dutch coast with typically a three to five year interval. While the judgement is still out on this globally unique intervention, if proven successful, it may well become a generic solution for combating sea level rise driven coastal recession on open and vulnerable coasts.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

The Coastal Genesis 2 research programme: Outputs, Outcomes and Impact

The long-term sediment demand of the Dutch coast is integral to the current Dutch Coastal Flood and Erosion Risk Management policy. The Coastal Genesis 2 research programme was initiated to address the sustainability of this policy under sea level rise by focusing on key uncertainties in the conceptual model of the sediment demand of the Dutch coast. The substantive scientific contributions of the Coastal Genesis 2 research programme are analysed in this paper by applying an output-outcome-impact framework. The direct outputs of the programme are categorised in terms of the knowledge types of a 5-element framework, namely measurement data, simulation models, system understanding, conceptual models, and policy and practice. The research outcomes arise from the interactions of these knowledge types. Our analysis of these outcomes highlights that synthesising new scientific insights into shared conceptual models is critical to achieving impact in policy and practice. In the Dutch situation, a new shared conceptual model of the long-term sediment demand enabled the development of four potential nourishment strategies aiming to meet the strategic goals of the Coastal Flood and Erosion Risk Management policy on a timescale up to 20 years. In 2021, the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management officially articulated her intention to adopt the advised nourishment strategy from 2024 onwards. This represents a lasting impact of the Coastal Genesis 2 research programme in policy and practice. Further, the insight regarding the pivotal role of shared conceptual models as intermediary between science, policy and practice may prove useful in the design of future research programmes aiming to influence policy

Questions for the Dynamicist: The Use of Dynamical Systems Theory in the Philosophy of Cognition

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