Salt marshes for flood risk reduction: Quantifying long-term effectiveness and life-cycle costs

Flood risks are increasing worldwide due to climate change and ongoing economic and demographic development in coastal areas. Salt marshes can function as vegetated foreshores that reduce wave loads on coastal structures such as dikes and dams, thereby mitigating current and future flood risk. This paper aims to quantify long-term (100 years)...

Economic implications of multi-layer safety projects for flood protection

Recent experience of large-scale water disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011 has reminded mankind that disasters cannot be ruledout. Unprecedented low-probability events can happen even in the most well monitored areas, causing major social-economic disruption. Failing to prepare...

Coastal defence cost estimates: Case study of the Netherlands, New Orleans and Vietnam

This study is part of a global study on the costs of adaptation to the effects of climate change. It adds information from three specific case studies (the Netherland, New Orleans and Vietnam) to the global study. The case study areas are comparable by type of coast; all are low-lying deltaic coastal areas. This study investigates the unit cost...