The development of the Dutch Flood safety strategy

This technical report sketches the main development of the flood defence system in the Netherlands. It concentrates on the establishment of the flood safety level and flood risk reduction strategies. First developments in the study of loading and soil properties until 1960 are described in Chapter 2. The storm surge of 1953 accelerated the...

Delivering change: Towards fit-for-purpose governance of adaptation to flooding and drought

This book addresses pressing challenges of policy makers, planners and project managers in the water sector to successfully implement adaptation action. It draws on case studies about water sensitive urban design (WSUD) in Australia and the Room for the River flood protection programme in the Netherlands. The book explains a procedure for...

The sand engine: A solution for the Dutch Delta 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...

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...

Working together with water: A living land builds for its future

The government asked the Delta Committee to come up with recommendations on how to protect the Dutch coast and the low-lying hinterland against the consequences of climate change. The issue is how the Netherlands can be made climate proof over the very long term: safe against flooding, while still remaining an attractive place to live, to reside...

Safety against inundation: The dutch approach

The most urbanized part of the Netherlands is situated below sea level and is protected by dikes. By act of parliament allowable inundation frequencies for each part of the country are fixed. In case of two dangers (river run-off and storm surge) it is a problem to determine design values for dikes. Guidelines are developed to solve these...