Flood risk reduction for Galveston Bay: Preliminary design of a coastal barrier system

Many coastal areas around the world are densely populated and at risk from flooding, but utilize different strategies to deal with coastal hazard. This chapter summarizes how Dutch concepts for coastal flood risk reduction have been explored for Galveston Bay. Firstly, it is shown how risk-based screening methods can help to evaluate various...

Design, maintain and operate movable storm surge barriers for flood risk reduction

In several coastal regions around the world, movable storm surge barriers have been implemented to protect against flooding induced by storm surges and waves. These barriers often form an integral part of the coastal defense system. In urban deltas, they are mostly intended to protect urban and industrial interests, while providing access for...

Water Level Modulation of Wave Transformation, Setup and Runup Over La Saline Fringing Reef

Coral reefs represent an efficient natural mechanical coastal defense against ocean waves. The focus of this study is La Saline fringing coral reef, located in the microtidal West of La Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, frequently exposed to Southern Ocean swell and cyclonic events. The aim is to provide a better understanding of the reef's...

Homogeneous detached composite breakwater: CFD study of the design sensitivities in the 2D geometrical layout using a detached homogeneous low-crested structure to reduce sea wall overtopping

In this research OpenFOAM is used to model and determine the complex hydrodynamic behaviour of a Homogeneous low-crested structure (HLCS) consisting of cubipod artificial concrete elements. The validated model is used to gain insight in the design sensitivities of a two dimensional cross sectional layout to reduce sea wall overtopping. HLCS and...

The relation between cobble revetments, sand and overtopping: A numerical approach with OpenFOAM®

OpenFOAM allowed the author to simulate a large number of scenarios in which the influences of cross-shore profile shape, cobble porosity, cobble diameter and layer thickness on wave overtopping were examined. Four validation runs and six simulations to map the sensitivity are compared with data from two physical experiments conducted in the...

Unravelling the sediment transport mechanisms in an artificial lagoon: Multi-modal sand transport analysis at the hard flood defence of Maasvlakte 2

The port of Rotterdam was full and new mooring locations were required to host the largest ships in the world. And if there’s no space to expand on land, why not create land in the sea? That is exactly what The Netherlands did by creating Maasvlakte 2. The construction of Maasvlakte 2 started in 2008 and was officially completed on May 22nd ,...

A predictive view on Durbans flood safety: The Golden Mile protected in style

Durban is the third largest city of South-Africa, located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The city suffers from severe floods from time to time, finding its cause in both the Indian ocean as well as the Umgeni river. The eThekwini municipality wishes a better insight in the occurrence of these floods and searches for a structural solution to...

Improving Flood Safety and Ferry Navigation in the Changing Environment of Holwerd

Relative sea level rise and climate change represent long-term threats for the ecosystems and flood defence system in the Wadden Sea. Moreover, the flood-dominant tidal basins in the area lead to sedimentation in the navigational channels used by the ferry services that connect the mainland to the Dutch Wadden islands. This report provides flood...

The determination of the feasibility of a 'Sand Breakwater' on the Nigerian coastline at Badagry

The coastal waters of Nigeria are a difficult environment to build structures to control the local morphology and hydrodynamic conditions to ones desire. This difficulty is a consequence of the persistent high-energy swell wave climate and Longshore Sediment Transport (LST) in the order of one million cubic metres per<br/>year. Besides these...

Nature enhancing opportunities for an artificial North Sea island: Opportunity study for the Dogger Bank

Wind energy from the North Sea is one of the solutions to achieve the climate goals of the Paris agreement. The Dogger Bank, a North Sea sandbank, has a lot of potential for wind energy due to the relatively shallow location and good wind conditions. An artificial island creates even more opportunities, because alternating energy can be...

A (New) Future for Miami Beach

A landscape architecture graduation work, dealing with drastic change in an urban area facing the risk of a major disruption, which calls for adaptive solutions for resilience. From adaptability theory two forces are derived that guide an analysis towards a solution for an urban environment challenged by sea level rise; the revolt, the force...

Engineering design guidelines for salt marsh development: Focused on the effect of grazing strategies on the coastal protection property

The main objective and secondary objective, which corresponds to the in-depth research are as follows:<br/><br/>(1) To develop guidelines for engineers to include salt marshes in hydraulic infrastructure projects, subject to the Building with Nature philosophy.<br/>(2) To investigate the effect of grazing at salt marshes on the coastal...

Haringvlietdam, a beautiful operative landscape: towards a slow tranformation

Due to the major flooding disasters particularly in the Southwest region, the Delta works were needed in order to protect the people and the land. During the Delta works a lot of water infrastructures were built in the area as technical solutions, such as the Haringvlietdam. The Delta Works brought safety and made the area more accessible....

Coastal and riverine ecosystems as adaptive flood defenses under a changing climate

Adaptation planning for flood risk forms a significant part of global climate change response. Engineering responses to higher water levels can be prohibitively costly. Several recent studies emphasize the potential role of ecosystems in flood protection as adaptive risk reduction measures while also contributing to carbon fixation. Here, we...

Eastern Scheldt: From nature - to human reserve

Deltas are of great importance to humans all over the world. They are densely populated coastal areas, where land arises from sea. An amazing gradient where two worlds meet and nature and humans proliferate traditionally. Yet this gradient increasingly disappears due to the great technical advances since the 19th century, which tried to control...

Resilient Communities: How a spatial framework can contribute to resilient flood-risk protection, while improving the living quality of communities.

The subject of this graduation project is Resilient Communities; designing flood-risk protection measures that will increase the social and spatial quality of different communities, increasing the quality of live. The location chosen to develop this project is Coney Island, an urbanized peninsula located on the Atlantic coast of New York City....

Resilient Communities: How a spatial framework can contribute to resilient flood-risk protection, while improving the living quality of communities.

The subject of this graduation project is Resilient Communities; designing flood-risk protection measures that will increase the quality of live within communities. The location chosen to develop this project is Coney Island, an urbanized peninsula located on the Atlantic coast of New York City. This area is characterized by a wide variety of...

Seawards! new sea defense for the Randstad as a Coastal Metropolis: Consequences for Katwijk aan Zee

According to the latest predictions, the average sea level will rise with about 1.2 meters in the coming century. The 60 kilometers of sandy coast along the Dutch city agglomeration Randstad is not prepared for such a threat. The coast needs to be enforced. In the meantime, the coastal zone, with all its charming seaside resorts, is one of the...