Delta Works sea defences
One in five people in the Netherlands lives on land below the sea level. The Netherlands is near to three large rivers and the North Sea, so a big surge of water could:
- Damage millions of homes.
- Put people's lives in danger.
- Cost the country a lot of money.
To stop this happening, civil engineers have designed a massive system of dams, locks and storm barriers. This system protects the coastline and the cities which aren't so close to the sea.
Each river is protected by a barrier. There are 13 in total, but engineers had to design a different type of barrier to suit each location.
The biggest and hardest to build of the works is the Oosterscheldekering – a 5.5 mile (9km) barrier with 62 gates. These gates can be closed if the weather is bad and flooding might happen.
The city of Rotterdam needed a barrier to protect 1.5 million people from flooding. But the river had to be kept open to let big container ships reach one of Europe's largest ports.
To do this, engineers built two huge steel gates across the river. Standing upright, the gates would be taller than the Eiffel Tower.
The Delta Works were not the first bold scheme built in the Netherlands. In the 1930s, Dutch civil engineers constructed the Zuiderzee Works to dam and drain an entire bay three times the size of London.
This article was originally published by ICE here.
--The Institution of Civil Engineers
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
It was the tallest structure in the world for 3,800 years, but to this day the exact construction techniques are a mystery.
Shortlist for the industry's most coveted award announced.
Government responds to Mark Farmer's review of industry, rejecting the call for a levy on clients.
Peter Hansford to examine what wider lessons can be learned from the fire.
Every project is subject to uncertainty. How can construction better understand uncertainty for performance improvement?
MAD Architects reveal their designs for a futuristic campus for electric car manufacturer.
Homebuyers could borrow more with better forecasting of energy bills, according to industry consortium's new report.
Read our introductory article on carbon capture and storage.
Have a look at Frank Gehry's Binoculars Building in Los Angeles.
BRE publish new Loss Prevention Standard seeking to minimise fire risk from ducting.
Beneficial infrastructure projects
How do we tell which infrastructure projects will work?
CIAT announce the establishment of a Working Group in light of Grenfell and call for contributions.
In 1900, 15% of global population lived in cities. Now it’s over 50%. Which is why we need ‘hydroinformatics’ to consume smarter.
Have a look at these competition-winning designs for a new residential development in Eindhoven.
Grenfell Tower articles updated daily