Economic optimization of coastal flood defence systems including storm surge barrier closure reliability

Storm surge barriers are large movable hydraulic structures which close during a storm surge to prevent coastal floods. In the regions they protect, a failure to close the barrier is often the most likely cause for a catastrophic flood. Nevertheless, flood risk assessments usually only focus on raising flood defences behind the barrier....

Accuracy of visual inspection of flood defences

Prioritisation of flood defence maintenance is typically based on visual inspection. However, literature shows that the Probability of Detection (PoD) of visual inspection can vary significantly. Here we investigate the PoD for visual inspections of flood defence structures, the consistency of damage classification, and the influence of...

How the Dutch plan to stay dry over the next Century

Over two-thirds of the Netherlands’ economy and half its population is below sea level. The Dutch government recently set out far-reaching recommendations on how to keep the country flood-proof over the next century given the likelihood of rising sea levels and river flows. This paper explains the recommendations, which are based on a gradual...