The maximum influence of wind on wave overtopping at seawalls with crest elements

The crest level of seawalls is often based on estimates of the amount of wave overtopping. Methods to estimate the mean overtopping discharge have been provided in several guidelines. One of the important parameters affecting wave overtopping is the wind. However, the effects of wind have not been accounted for in detail in present design...

Asset management, operation and maintenance

This chapter introduces asset management for urban drainage systems with a focus on operation and maintenance. Good asset management ensures the performance of assets is in line with the owner and operator's requirements.

Future outlook for urban drainage

The lack of flexibility in current drainage infrastructure combined with uncertainty, changing societal needs and demands affect the robustness and resilience of current drainage systems to future pressures. This chapter looks at how new thinking and alternative, more innovative ways to deliver a sustainable, affordable operating model for...

Integrating Environmental Sustainability in Construction and Real Estate Management Education

It is recommended to integrate specific management competencies in academic education to support the transition towards environmentally sustainable practices, particularly in the construction and real estate sector. This paper explores how architectural management education can integrate environmental sustainability within its current university...

Corrosion of concrete structures due to climate change

Concrete is clearly one of the most predominant-used material in both residential and non-residential structures across Europe (Peled and Fishman, 2021). A reinforced concrete (RC) structure is expected to satisfy criteria for serviceability, structural integrity, and stability over its designed operational lifespan, without significant loss of...

Adaptation strategies

In addressing the impact of climate change on the corrosion of RC buildings, it is crucial to distinguish between two adaptation strategies. The first refers to measures integrated during the design phase for new structures. The second involves strategies implemented during the service phase to enhance the resilience of existing structures. This...

Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy (CARS)

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectroscopy has been used to provide gas-phase quantitative scalar information (e.g. temperature, density, and species concentrations) for more than 5 decades. This technique is renowned for its ability to realize non-intrusive in-situ measurements in harsh environments with excellent spatial and...

Embedded structures in flood defenses: Effects on safety and failures

Flood defenses are exposed to deterioration processes that compromise their stability. These processes are called ‘failure mechanisms’ and they are mostly triggered and/or exacerbated by the hydraulic loads generated during extreme high water events, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change....

Case Study: Millingen aan de Rijn: Wave overtopping experiment for levee with road

In the case of wave overtopping, structures constructed above the flood defense will change the hydrodynamic behavior of the overtopped waves. This will change the scouring rates of the inner grass cover.

Case Study: Lekdijk (Vianen, Utrecht): Optimum levee width considering piping erosion

Based on the materials that are present in the flood defense, the resistance to failure mechanisms also changes as the deterioration rates change. In that sense, the optimum size of flood defenses can be better determined if the inherent uncertainty associated with the materials is reduced.

Understanding the Origin, Trajectories of Change, and Future Prospects for Large Housing Estates in Europe

It has been nearly fifteen years since a large European Union–funded project called RESTATE explored challenges in housing estates throughout several European countries and served as a clearinghouse for the exchange of ideas for counteracting negative trends in large housing estates (van Kempen et al. 2005). Since that time, a series of riots in...

The Eighteenth-Century Art Market and the Northern and Southern Netherlandish Schools of Painting: Together or Apart?

To what extent did the international art market contribute to the shaping of the concept of schools of painting, in particular the northern and southern Netherlandish schools? By studying the structure of auction catalogues, collection catalogues, art literature, and several other sources, this essay considers the important changes that took...

The European REFORM Project for Hydromorphological Quality in River Basin Management

The Water Framework Directive commits European Union member states to achieve good ecological and chemical status of all water bodies. As hydromorphology is a key factor for ecological status, a consortium of 26 partners from 15 countries studied the role of hydromorphological pressures and measures in the REFORM project. Its main objective was...