'Building with nature': The new Dutch approach to coastal and river works

The Netherlands has adopted a new, proactive approach to developing its extensive coastal and river works called ‘building with nature’. Rather than simply minimising or mitigating the environmental impact of harbours, navigation channels, land reclamation and flood defences, the idea is to make use of the dynamics of the natural environment and...

Online operational early warning system prototypes to forecast coastal storm impacts (cews)

Extreme coastal storms have a destructive impact on coastal areas and directly affect people living in the coastal zone, being this emphasized by recent events (e.g. Katrina, Xynthia) which reminded the world of the vulnerability of coastal areas. The economic constraints and the increasing vulnerability of coastal areas (due to sea level rise...

Building with nature / Construir con la naturaleza: Thinking, acting and interacting differently / Pensando, actuando e interactuando de manera diferente

Eco-dynamic development and design tested for coastal management

Working in coastal planning is nearly always innovative, since no two coasts are the same. Even if they appear to be physically similar, local conditions and governance settings are usually different, thus requiring a different approach. Each project is unique, which makes coastal projects exciting and diverse.

Validation of the TASS system for predicting the environmental effects of trailing suction hopper dredgers

TASS is a software programme that enables the user to predict the spatial development and concentration of turbidity plumes arising from dredging activities by trailer suction hopper dredgers. TASS has been developed because of a recognised need by the dredging industry to improve the quality of predictions of the effects of dredging in...

The Netherlands: Challenges for the 21st century

Introducing guidelines for eco-dynamic development and design

One of the key activities within the Building with Nature innovation programme is the development of a guideline for Eco-dynamic Development and Design. This guidance will be focussed on implementation of the Building with Nature principles throughout all of the stages of hydraulic engineering projects (initiation, planning & design,...

Using 18th century storm-surge data from the Dutch Coast to improve the confidence in flood-risk estimates

For the design of cost-effective coastal defence a precise estimate is needed of the 1/10 000 per year storm surge. A more precise estimate requires more observations. Therefore, the three greatest storm surges that hit the northern part of the Holland Coast in the 18th century are reconstructed. The reconstructions are based on paintings,...

OpenEarth - Inter-Company Management of: Data, Models, Tools & Knowledge

Research, consultancy as well as construction projects commonly spend a significant part of their budget to set-up some basic infrastructure for data and knowledge management, most of which dissipates again once the project is finished. Standing initiatives so far have not been successful in providing a proper data and knowledge management...