Evaluating alternatives for extending the drinking water supply in Uganda: A multidisciplinary project

In many places in Uganda, people do not have a connection to the drinking water supply system and there is a lack of treated water supply, meaning that people only have access to water a certain part of the day. As a result many people rely on springs, handpumps, rivers or lakes, of which the quality cannot be monitored or controlled. <br/><br/...

A surrogate model approach to study the effect of rainfall through cracks on the macro-stability of canal dikes

Under the current climate change projections, droughts and extreme rainfall events are becoming more common and intense. During sustained droughts, soil cracks can develop in the topsoil of a dike. These soil cracks can enhance the infiltration and drainage of the dike, affecting the dike stability. This study’s main objective is to better...

Analysis of the Beach and Dune Development of the Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier Area

Dunes are the primary sea defence along the Dutch coast. This research investigated the development between 1965 and 2021 of the beaches and dunes of the Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier (HHNK) area which stretches from IJmuiden to northern Texel. This research used an advanced data analysis on the annual coastal elevation data. The...

Improving the reliability of an impact-based forecasting model: A case study for typhoons and landslides in the Philippines

Anticipatory action requires models that can accurately and reliably predict the impact of natural hazards. However, impact forecasts are often underestimated when consecutive hazards are not considered. In the Bicol region in the Philippines, typhoons trigger 90% of landslides, causing a lot of fatalities and damage to infrastructure and...

An experimental and numerical investigation of the hydrodynamics of the ducted system of a "Van Rompay Turbine": with the goal to capture energy from the current of an ocean, river, estuary or similar

Hydrokinetic energy is an environmentally friendly source of electricity and it has the advantage to be more predictable compared to other renewables. According to IRENA (2020), the capacity of converting hydrokinetic energy into electricity is expected to increase in the coming decades as many concepts are in the pipeline. One of these...

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...

Reliability analysis of sea-dikes in Shanghai city, China

This research focuses on the estimation the failure probability of Shanghai sea-dikes system, taking into account several failure mechanisms. This method follows fully probabilistic approach, in which all relevant parameters for the resistances and the hydraulic loads vary according to specific distributions.

Analysis of the behaviour of geogrid-anchored sheet pile walls: Small-scale experiments and 2D PLAXIS analysis

Geogrids are commonly used for reinforcement of soils in construction of railway and road embankments and bridge abutments. A relatively new application of geogrids is the anchorage of sheet pile walls, in which one or more layers of geogrid are attached to the sheet pile wall. This type of anchorage is particularly suitable for projects with...

The influence of suction on the shear strength of a clay dike

Enhancing innovation in dike monitoring practice: a case study on the implementation of novel optic fibre pressure sensors

Flooding currently affects 100 million people on average per year globally, and the number is increasing. The performance of dikes under extreme conditions is crucial to societal flood protection. By deploying measurement instruments in and around the embankment, more accurate insights into the actual status of the dike can be achieved that can...