Strength of grass covers on dikes

Wave overtopping, in which a wave washes over the crest of a dike and damages its inner slope, is one of the many mechanisms that is found to be responsible for dike failures. As these dikes are generally covered with grass, insight into the erosion resistance of these grass covers against wave overtopping is desired. To assess the performance...

Prediction method for grass erosion on levees by wave overtopping: Linking models to experiments

Large areas of the world are protected by flood defence systems. A common part of flood defence systems is a levee with grass cover, with the primary function to protect hinterland against floods. Waveovertopping might lead to erosion of the grass cover, followed by erosion of the inner slope and potentially levee breaching. The wave overtopping...

Vulnerability of structural transitions in flood defences: Erosion of grass covers due to wave overtopping

Hardly any flood defence system is a continuous dike system, since it is often interrupted by non-water retaining structures, as for example stairs, buildings, roads, fences and trees. Also larger hydraulic structures as floodgates and sluices are sometimes situated in the dike alignment. The transition between these different objects and the...

Wave overtopping: Impact of water jets on grassed inner slope transitions

The safety of a large part of the Netherlands depends on sea dikes. Due to climate change, a sea level rise is predicted. Together with stronger storms and more wave attack, wave overtopping on the current dikes will increase. As a response, crest levels of the dikes need to be raised in order to meet the present regulations for wave overtopping...