Delta Works keep Holland dry - BetterWorldSolutions - The NetherlandsBetterWorldSolutions - The Netherlands Delta Works keep Holland dry 5 / 5 (1 votes) flood and safety , WATER Leave a Comment Delta Works keep Holland dry The Delta Works is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from the sea. Needed because 60% of the Dutch live below sea level The works consist of dams , sluices , locks , dykes , levees , and storm surge barriers . The aim of the dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers was to shorten the Dutch coastline, thus reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. Along with the Zuiderzee Works , Delta Works have been declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers . Delta plan to prevent because of the rising of the sea level – climate change In September 2008, the Delta commission presided by Dutch politician Cees Veerman advised in a report that the Netherlands would need a massive new building program to strengthen the country’s water defenses against the anticipated effects of global warming for the next 190 years.

The plans included drawing up worst-case scenarios for evacuations and included more than €100 billion, or $144 billion, in new spending through the year 2100 for measures, such as broadening coastal dunes and strengthening sea and river dikes . Floods Water has always played a central part in Dutch history. On one hand it brought wealth to the Netherlands through trade and fishery; on the other hand it brought a number of losses through the many floods. To date water has remained important for the Netherlands. From a geographical point of view, the Netherlands are placed in a very favorable position; at the sea and in the delta (a triangular section of land at the mouth of a river) of four large rivers. Drained area’s The Dutch surface area has almost doubled through centuries of “impoldering” (area drained and prepared for agriculture) lakes and parts of the sea. As a result of this impoldering almost 40 percent of the land lies below sea level. Areas include large parts of the highly populated and the economically important west, with cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam. To keep these areas dry, superfluous water is continuously pumped out of the polders.

Furthermore, the Netherlands is protected from floods through a combination of levees, dunes, dams and barriers. After the last big flood of 1953, people decided to build the Delta Works; one of the largest built flood protection and water management projects in the world. Contact Expedition Earth: The Delta Works Welcome to Expeditie Aarde – Expedition Earth. Expeditie Aarde – Expedition Earth is an independent website. Learn about concepts of geography, find geographic information, maps, videos and more. Thursday, 25 October 2012 The Delta Works The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country. About 27% of The Netherlands and 21% of its population located below sea level, and 50% of its land lying less than one metre above sea level. Most of the areas below sea level are man-made, caused by centuries of extensive and poorly controlled peat extraction, lowering the surface by several meters. Even in flooded areas peat extraction continued through turf dredging. From the late 16th century land reclamation started and large polder areas are now preserved through elaborate drainage systems with dikes, canals and pumping stations.

Much of the Netherlands is formed by the estuary of three important European rivers, which together with their distributaries form the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. The Delta Works The Delta Works is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from the sea. The Delta Works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dikes and storm surge barriers. Dams A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water. Example of a dam: The Haringvlietdam. Sluices A sluice (from the Dutch word "sluis") is a water channel controlled at its head by a gate. Sluice gates commonly control water levels and flow rates in rivers and canals. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway. Example of a sluices: The sluices of the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier. Locks A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways.

The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is the chamber itself (usually then called a caisson) that rises and falls. Locks are used to make a river more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to take a reasonably direct line across land that is not level. Example of a lock: Dikes The modern word dike or dyke most likely derives from the Dutch word "dijk". Dyke or dike may refer to: a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels. A dike is called levee in American English. A dike / levee is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. Example of a dike: Storm surge barriers A storm surge barrier is designed to protect the Netherlands from flooding. The aim of the storm surge barriers is to shorten the Dutch coastline, therefore reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised.

The Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier (de Oosterscheldekering), between the islands Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland, is the largest of the 13 Delta works series of dams, designed to protect the Netherlands from flooding. The construction of the Delta Works was in response to the Flood of 1953. The Oosterscheldekering was initially designed, as a closed dam, but after public protest huge sluice-gate-type doors were installed. Thesesluice-gate-doors are normally open, but can be closed under adverse weather conditions. In this way the saltwater marine life behind the dam is preserved and fishing can continue, while the land behind the dam is safe from the water. Example of a storm surge barriers (The Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier): The "Maeslantkering" is the final protection work of the Deltaworks. Situated in the main access channel of the Port of Rotterdam it is usually in open condition. It has been designed to withstand a severe storm occurring once every 50 years.

Example of a storm surge barriers (The Maeslantkering storm surge barrier near Rotterdam during a test closure): The aim of the dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers was to shorten the Dutch coastline, therefore reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. Posted by Rob Segers at The Seven Mondern Wonders - The Zuiderzee and Delta Works Other: Turned the Zuiderzee from a bay into a lake. Taming the Zuiderzee One of most notable features of the Netherlands was the Zuiderzee. The name meant "Southern Sea" in Dutch, but it was actually a shallow bay of the North Sea that ran 60 miles (100km) inland and was about 30 miles (50km) wide. Despite its great size covering almost 2000 square miles it was only about 15 feet deep. While the Zuiderzee was a resource for fishing and allowed access for trade, it could become dangerous whenever one of the frequent North Sea storms would push water through the bay's inlet. Dikes would fail and the resulting floods would kill hundreds or even thousands of people.

In 1421 a seawall on the Zuiderzee dike broke during a storm and flooded 72 villages killing about 10,000 people. In the 17th century the first plans to address this problem were drawn up. It wasn't until the 19th century, however, that the technology to actually do the job was developed. Cornelis Lely, a Dutch civil engineer, came up with a plan that proposed building a long dam that would close off the Zuiderzee and turn it into a lake. The plan also included building four polders in the lake that would be drained and used mainly for agriculture. Lely became Minister of Transport and Public Works in 1913 and tried to push his plan forward. Not everybody agreed with his ideas, however. Fishermen along the Zuiderzee were concerned that they would lose their livelihood. Others were worried that such a project might create higher water levels at other places along the coast. The government was also alarmed about the enormous price tag of the project. In 1916 during a winter storm, however, several dikes gave way along the Zuiderzee and the result was more damaging floods.

After this disaster Lely's bold plan gained much public support. On June 14, 1918 the Zuiderzee Act was passed and the project was officially started. Its goals were to protect the region against floods from the North Sea, increase the country's food supply by creating polders that could be turned into farmland and use what remained of the Zuiderzee to improve water management. Construction on the Afsluitdijk in 1931 The Afsluitdijk The first step in the plan was to enclose the Zuiderzee by building a 20 mile long dam across the bay. Something like this had never been done before, so the Dutch engineers made the wise decision to start by building a much shorter dam out to the island of Wieringen which would form the first part of the enclosure of the bay. The experience gained in the exercise was valuable when the longer dam, the Afsluitdijk, was built from the other side of Wieringen across the bay to the village of Zurich in 1927. The engineers found that a type of material called till (or boulder clay) made an excellent base for the dam.

As the name suggests it is a mixture of small boulders and clay that was deposited during the Glacial Period. Fortunately it was readily available as it could be obtained by simply dredging it up from the bottom of the Zuiderzee. The till was loaded into ships which hauled it out to the mouth of the bay and dropped it onto two parallel lines along what would be the course of the dam. The space between the two rows of till was filled with regular sand, and then a layer of till was placed on top. To complete the base of the dam a coating of basalt rock and willow branches was laid down. The dam's design called for it to rise 25 feet above sea level, so another layer of sand was placed to top of that, which was covered with another deposit of till. The surface was then planted with grass to help guard against erosion. The project proceeded faster than planned and was two years ahead of schedule when on May 28, 1932 the last connection to the sea was closed that the Zuiderzee became a lake named Ijsselmeer.

Then dam took another year to fully complete as a road was built along the top and 25 sluices were constructed to allow excess water in the lake to be discharged to the sea. Two sets of locks were also created to allow ships to move in and out of the Ijsselmeer to the ocean. It is estimated the dam cost the equivalent of $710 million in 2004 United States dollars. Making Land Even before the Afsluitdijk was complete, the Dutch started working on the first of the polders, the Wieringermeer. It's dikes were completed in 1929 and by 1930 it had been pumped dry, not by windmills, but by one modern diesel powered pumping station and one electrically powered pumping station. Both used large Archimedes screw type pumps to move the water. Additional work took another four years before the land could be used for agriculture and construction. The polder added a total of 75 square miles of area to the country. The second polder, the Noordoostpolder, was started in 1936 and draining it wasn't finished until 1942.

The area turned out to be a good resource for the Dutch Underground resistance in World War II as it provided almost 230 square miles of undeveloped land to hide from the Nazi occupation force. World War II also brought some setbacks to the project, however. In April 1945, the retreating German forces blew up the dike of the Wieringermeer, flooding the land again. Fortunately the Dutch managed to reclaim the polder by the end of the year, though much of the infrastructure was destroyed and had to be rebuilt. In 1950 work on the the Oostelijk Flevoland, the third polder, was started and by 1957 it had added 208 square miles of territory to the Netherlands. Two years later work on the fourth polder, Zuidelijk Flevoland, was started and finished in 1967. The Dutch considered building a fifth polder in the Ijsselmeer, but after several false starts, it was never completed. Even so the territory created by the project totaled over 895 square miles. The Delta Works The Delta Works were a series of construction projects started in 1950 designed to limit flooding.

Just south of the Netherlands city of Rotterdam the Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt rivers meet the North Sea. This estuary area was extremely low lying and had been subject to heavy floods for centuries. Shortly after the completion of the Afsluitdijk, the Dutch decided they could limit the damage to this area by using dams to effectively shorten the coastline. No work was started until the 1950's however. The Zuiderzee plan drawn up by Lely in 1891. A major flood in the region during January 1953 killed more than 1,800 people when a storm surge caused 89 dikes to fail. Over 72,000 residents had to be evacuated and 10,000 houses and buildings were destroyed. Repair and reconstruction cost nearly a billion dollars. This prompted the government move forward with the project as quickly as it could. Originally the plan called for estuaries Oosterschelde, Haringvliet and Grevelingen to be dammed and turned into lakes, just like the Ijsselmeer.

Because of environmental concerns, however, it was decided to protect the Oosterschelde from storm surges by a barrier instead. The storm surge barrier is a series of massive values that are normally open so that water can move in and out of the estuary. This helps preserve the natural environment. However the valves can be closed to create a dam during a storm so no high water enters the area. Another storm surge barrier was also built to protect the river Nieuwe Waterweg when raising the existing levees along the waterway proved too difficult. Though officially completed in 1997 at the cost of $7 billion, the Netherlands continues to add infrastructure to the Delta works as needed. It is estimated that it will continue to need construction to protect the area against the rising water levels caused by global warming. Copyright 2011 Lee Krystek. All Rights Reserved.

Learn and talk about Delta Works, Dams in the Netherlands, Delta Works, Dikes in the Netherlands, Flood control in the Netherlands Netherlands Delta works The Delta Works ( Dutch : Deltawerken) is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from the sea. The works consist of dams , sluices , locks , dykes , levees , and storm surge barriers . The aim of the dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers was to shorten the Dutch coastline, thus reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. Along with the Zuiderzee Works , Delta Works have been declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers . Contents History[ edit ] The estuaries of the rivers Rhine , Meuse and Scheldt have been subject to flooding over the centuries. After building the Afsluitdijk , the Dutch started studying the damming of the Rhine-Meuse Delta . Plans were developed to shorten the coastline and turn the delta into a group of freshwater lakes. By shortening the coastline, fewer dikes would have to be reinforced.

Due to indecision and the Second World War , little action was taken. In 1950 two small estuary mouths, the Brielse Gat near Brielle and the Botlek near Vlaardingen were dammed. After the North Sea flood of 1953 , a Delta Works Commission was installed to research the causes and develop measures to prevent such disasters in future. They revised some of the old plans and came up with the "Deltaplan". The plan consisted of blocking the estuary mouths of the Oosterschelde , the Haringvliet and the Grevelingen . This reduced the length of the dikes exposed to the sea by 700 kilometres (430 mi). The mouths of the Nieuwe Waterweg and the Westerschelde were to remain open because of the important shipping routes to the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp . The dikes along these waterways were to be heightened and strengthened. The works would be combined with road and waterway infrastructure to stimulate the economy of the province of Zeeland and improve the connection between the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.

Delta law and conceptual framework[ edit ] An important part of this project was fundamental research to help solve the flooding problem. Instead of analysing past floods and building protection sufficient to deal with those, the Delta Works commission pioneered a conceptual framework to use as norm for investment in flood defences. The framework is called the 'Delta norm'; it includes the following principles: Major areas to be protected from flooding are identified. These are called "dike ring areas" because they are protected by a ring of primary sea defences. The cost of flooding is assessed using a statistical model involving damage to property, lost production, and a given amount per human life lost. For the purpose of this model, a human life is valued at €2.2 million (2008 data). The chances of a significant flood within the given area are calculated. This is done using data from a purpose-built flood simulation lab, as well as empirical statistical data regarding water wave properties and distribution. Storm behaviour and spring tide distribution are also taken into account. The most important "dike ring area" is the South Holland coast region. It is home to four million people, most of whom live below normal sea level.

The loss of human life in a catastrophic flood here can be very large because there is typically little warning time with North Sea storms. Comprehensive evacuation is not a realistic option for the Holland coastal region. The commission initially set the acceptable risk for complete failure of every "dike ring" in the country at 1 in 125,000 years. But, it found that the cost of building to this level of protection could not be supported. It set "acceptable" risks by region as follows: North and South Holland (excluding Wieringermeer): 1 per 10,000 years Other areas at risk from sea flooding: 1 per 4,000 years Transition areas between high land and low land: 1 per 2,000 years River flooding causes less damage than salt water flooding, which causes long-term damage to agricultural lands. Areas at risk from river flooding were assigned a higher acceptable risk. River flooding also has a longer warning time, producing a lower estimated death toll per event. South Holland at risk from river flooding: 1 per 1,250 years Other areas at risk from river flooding: 1 per 250 years.

These acceptable risks were enshrined in the Delta Law . This required the government to keep risks of catastrophic flooding within these limits and to upgrade defences should new insights into risks require this. The limits have also been incorporated into the new Water Law , effective from 22 December 2009. The Delta Project (of which the Delta Works are a part) has been designed with these guidelines in mind. All other primary defences have been upgraded to meet the norm. New data elevating the risk assessment on expected sea level rise due to global warming has identified ten 'weak points.' These are currently being upgraded to meet the future demands. This work is expected to be completed in 2015. An upgrade to river flooding defences is underway, which is expected to be finished in 2017. Alterations to the plan during the execution of the Works[ edit ] During the execution of the works, changes were made in response to public pressure. In the Nieuwe Waterweg, the heightening and the associated widening of the dikes proved very difficult because of public opposition to the planned destruction of important historic buildings to achieve this.

The plan was changed to the construction of a storm surge barrier (the Maeslantkering ) and dikes were only partly built up. Oosterscheldekering , the largest of thirteen Delta Works' dams and barriers. The Oosterschelde was originally to be dammed and turned into a fresh water lake. This would have caused major environmental destruction, with the total loss of the saltwater ecosystem and, consequently, the harvesting of oysters. Environmentalists and fishermen combined their efforts to prevent the closure; they persuaded parliament to amend the original plan. Instead of completely damming the estuary, the government agreed to build a storm surge barrier. This essentially is a long collection of very large valves that can be closed against storm surges. The storm surge barrier closes only when the sea-level is expected to rise 3 metres above mean sea level. Under normal conditions, the estuary's mouth is open, and salt water flows in and out with the tide. As a result of the change, the weak dikes along the Oosterschelde needed to be strengthened. Over 200 km of the dike needed new revetments.

The connections between the Eastern Scheldt and the neighboring Haringvliet had to be dammed to limit the effect of the salt water. Extra dams and locks were needed at the east part of the Oosterschelde to create a shipping route between the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Current status[ edit ] The original plan was completed by the Europoortkering which required the construction of the Maeslantkering in the Nieuwe Waterweg between Maassluis and Hoek van Holland and the Hartelkering in the Hartel Canal near Spijkenisse . The works were declared finished after almost fifty years in 1997. In reality the works were finished on 24 August 2010 with the official opening of the last strengthened and raised retaining wall near the city of Harlingen, Netherlands . Due to climate change and relative sea-level rise, the dikes will eventually have to be made higher and wider. This is a long term uphill battle against the sea. The needed level of flood protection and the resulting costs are a recurring subject of debate. Currently, reinforcement of the dike revetments along the Oosterschelde and Westerschelde is underway.

The revetments have proven to be insufficient and need to be replaced. This work started in 1996 and should be finished in 2015. In that period the Ministry of Public Works and Water Management in cooperation with the waterboards will have reinforced over 400 km of dikes. [1] In September 2008, the Delta commission presided by Dutch politician Cees Veerman advised in a report that the Netherlands would need a massive new building program to strengthen the country's water defenses against the anticipated effects of global warming for the next 190 years. The plans included drawing up worst-case scenarios for evacuations and included more than €100 billion, or $144 billion, in new spending through the year 2100 for measures, such as broadening coastal dunes and strengthening sea and river dikes . The commission said the country must plan for a rise in the North Sea of 1.3 meters by 2100 and 4 meters by 2200.

[2] Projects[ edit ] The works that are part of the Delta Works are listed in chronological order with their year of completion: Delta Works Data Netherlands North Sea Protection Works | Wonder Of World Netherlands North Sea Protection Works by Zee The Zuiderzee and Delta Works of the Netherlands The Eastern Scheldt Surge Barrier, part of the Delta Works, protects the land from flooding during storms. (Credit Vladimír Šiman licenced through Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported ) When people think of the Netherlands two things often come to mind: Tulips and windmills. Both of these have been symbols of this European country for centuries. The tulip was introduced from Asia in the 17th century and has been a source of income for Dutch farmers ever since. The windmills date from the 1400’s and though they are picturesque, they are actually symbols of a serious life and death struggle that has raged in the Netherlands for years: The Dutch people and their land against the sea. The most recent of these battles took place in the 20th century when the Dutch engaged in two massive projects to enlarge and secure their land against the ocean.

The Zuiderzee Works and the Delta Works took most of the century to complete and together are considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Polders The Netherlands is one of the most low-lying countries in the world. Today about a quarter of the land area is actually below sea level. Because of this when a large storm raises the water level along the coast much of the country is subject to heavy flooding. In the first century A.D. people began building artificial hills, called terps, and locating their villages and towns on top of them so that when floods came their homes would be safe. After a while it occurred to the people that if they connected the terps together with long walls, called dikes, they could keep the water out of their farmlands also. Eventually the Dutch started eyeing areas that had been unusable because they were flood zones or were underwater like marshes and lakes. Dikes were built around these and they were given the name polders. For a polder to be made dry enough for framing or building they had to be drained of water. The earliest pumps were connected to windmills and driven by the wind.

As more and more land was added to the Netherlands through polders more and more windmills were needed. Soon the Netherlands became known as the land of windmills. Seven Quick Facts Other: Turned the Zuiderzee from a bay into a lake. Taming the Zuiderzee One of most notable features of the Netherlands was the Zuiderzee. The name meant “Southern Sea” in Dutch, but it was actually a shallow bay of the North Sea that ran 60 miles (100km) inland and was about 30 miles (50km) wide. Despite its great size covering almost 2000 square miles it was only about 15 feet deep. While the Zuiderzee was a resource for fishing and allowed access for trade, it could become dangerous whenever one of the frequent North Sea storms would push water through the bay’s inlet. Dikes would fail and the resulting floods would kill hundreds or even thousands of people. In 1421 a seawall on the Zuiderzee dike broke during a storm and flooded 72 villages killing about 10,000 people. In the 17th century the first plans to address this problem were drawn up.

It wasn’t until the 19th century, however, that the technology to actually do the job was developed. Cornelis Lely, a Dutch civil engineer, came up with a plan that proposed building a long dam that would close off the Zuiderzee and turn it into a lake. The plan also included building four polders in the lake that would be drained and used mainly for agriculture. Lely became Minister of Transport and Public Works in 1913 and tried to push his plan forward. Not everybody agreed with his ideas, however. Fishermen along the Zuiderzee were concerned that they would lose their livelihood. Others were worried that such a project might create higher water levels at other places along the coast. The government was also alarmed about the enormous price tag of the project. In 1916 during a winter storm, however, several dikes gave way along the Zuiderzee and the result was more damaging floods. After this disaster Lely’s bold plan gained much public support. On June 14, 1918 the Zuiderzee Act was passed and the project was officially started.

Its goals were to protect the region against floods from the North Sea, increase the country’s food supply by creating polders that could be turned into farmland and use what remained of the Zuiderzee to improve water management. Construction on the Afsluitdijk in 1931 The Afsluitdijk The first step in the plan was to enclose the Zuiderzee by building a 20 mile long dam across the bay. Something like this had never been done before, so the Dutch engineers made the wise decision to start by building a much shorter dam out to the island of Wieringen which would form the first part of the enclosure of the bay. The experience gained in the exercise was valuable when the longer dam, the Afsluitdijk, was built from the other side of Wieringen across the bay to the village of Zurich in 1927. The engineers found that a type of material called till (or boulder clay) made an excellent base for the dam. As the name suggests it is a mixture of small boulders and clay that was deposited during the Glacial Period. Fortunately it was readily available as it could be obtained by simply dredging it up from the bottom of the Zuiderzee.

The till was loaded into ships which hauled it out to the mouth of the bay and dropped it onto two parallel lines along what would be the course of the dam. The space between the two rows of till was filled with regular sand, and then a layer of till was placed on top. To complete the base of the dam a coating of basalt rock and willow branches was laid down. The dam’s design called for it to rise 25 feet above sea level, so another layer of sand was placed to top of that, which was covered with another deposit of till. The surface was then planted with grass to help guard against erosion. The project proceeded faster than planned and was two years ahead of schedule when on May 28, 1932 the last connection to the sea was closed that the Zuiderzee became a lake named Ijsselmeer. Then dam took another year to fully complete as a road was built along the top and 25 sluices were constructed to allow excess water in the lake to be discharged to the sea. Two sets of locks were also created to allow ships to move in and out of the Ijsselmeer to the ocean.

It is estimated the dam cost the equivalent of $710 million in 2004 United States dollars. Making Land Even before the Afsluitdijk was complete, the Dutch started working on the first of the polders, the Wieringermeer. It’s dikes were completed in 1929 and by 1930 it had been pumped dry, not by windmills, but by one modern diesel powered pumping station and one electrically powered pumping station. Both used large Archimedes screw type pumps to move the water. Additional work took another four years before the land could be used for agriculture and construction. The polder added a total of 75 square miles of area to the country. The second polder, the Noordoostpolder, was started in 1936 and draining it wasn’t finished until 1942. The area turned out to be a good resource for the Dutch Underground resistance in World War II as it provided almost 230 square miles of undeveloped land to hide from the Nazi occupation force. World War II also brought some setbacks to the project, however.

In April 1945, the retreating German forces blew up the dike of the Wieringermeer, flooding the land again. Fortunately the Dutch managed to reclaim the polder by the end of the year, though much of the infrastructure was destroyed and had to be rebuilt. In 1950 work on the the Oostelijk Flevoland, the third polder, was started and by 1957 it had added 208 square miles of territory to the Netherlands. Two years later work on the fourth polder, Zuidelijk Flevoland, was started and finished in 1967. The Dutch considered building a fifth polder in the Ijsselmeer, but after several false starts, it was never completed. Even so the territory created by the project totaled over 895 square miles. The Delta Works The Delta Works were a series of construction projects started in 1950 designed to limit flooding. Just south of the Netherlands city of Rotterdam the Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt rivers meet the North Sea. This estuary area was extremely low lying and had been subject to heavy floods for centuries.

Shortly after the completion of the Afsluitdijk, the Dutch decided they could limit the damage to this area by using dams to effectively shorten the coastline. No work was started until the 1950’s however. The Zuiderzee plan drawn up by Lely in 1891. A major flood in the region during January 1953 killed more than 1,800 people when a storm surge caused 89 dikes to fail. Over 72,000 residents had to be evacuated and 10,000 houses and buildings were destroyed. Repair and reconstruction cost nearly a billion dollars. This prompted the government move forward with the project as quickly as it could. Originally the plan called for estuaries Oosterschelde, Haringvliet and Grevelingen to be dammed and turned into lakes, just like the Ijsselmeer. Because of environmental concerns, however, it was decided to protect the Oosterschelde from storm surges by a barrier instead. The storm surge barrier is a series of massive values that are normally open so that water can move in and out of the estuary. This helps preserve the natural environment.

However the valves can be closed to create a dam during a storm so no high water enters the area. Another storm surge barrier was also built to protect the river Nieuwe Waterweg when raising the existing levees along the waterway proved too difficult. Though officially completed in 1997 at the cost of $7 billion, the Netherlands continues to add infrastructure to the Delta works as needed. It is estimated that it will continue to need construction to protect the area against the rising water levels caused by global warming. Delta Works : definition of Delta Works and synonyms of Delta Works (English) 6 External links History The estuaries of the rivers Rhine , Meuse and Scheldt have been subject to flooding over the centuries. After building the Afsluitdijk , the Dutch started studying the damming of the Rhine-Meuse Delta . Plans were developed for shortening the coastline and turning the delta into a group of freshwater lakes. By shortening the coastline fewer dikes would have to be reinforced. Due to indecision and the Second World War , little action was taken. In 1950 two small estuary mouths, the Brielse Gat near Brielle and the Botlek near Vlaardingen were dammed.

After the North Sea flood of 1953 , a commission was installed which had to come up with a plan to research the causes and seek measures to prevent such disasters in future. They revised some of the old plans and came up with the so called "Deltaplan". The plan consisted of blocking the estuary mouths of the Oosterschelde , the Haringvliet and the Grevelingen . This reduced the length of the dikes exposed to the sea by approximately 400 miles (640 km). The mouths of the Nieuwe Waterweg and the Westerschelde were to remain open because of the shipping routes to the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp . The dikes along these waterways were to be heightened and strengthened. The works would be combined with road and waterway infrastructure to stimulate the economy of the province of Zeeland and improve the connection between the port of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Delta law and Conceptual framework An important part of this project was fundamental research to help solve the flooding problem. Instead of analysing past floods and building protection sufficient to deal with those, the Delta Works commission pioneered a conceptual framework to use as norm for investment in flood defences.

The framework is called the 'Delta norm' and works as follows: Major areas to be protected from flooding are identified. These are called "dike ring areas" because they are protected by a ring of primary sea defences. The cost of flooding is assessed using a statistical model involving damage to property, lost production and a given amount per human life lost. For the purpose of this model a human life is valued at €2.2 million (2008 data). The chances of a significant flood within the given area are calculated. This is done using data from a purpose-built flood simulation lab as well as empirical statistical data regarding water wave properties and distribution. Storm behaviour and spring tide distribution are also taken into account. The most important "dike ring area" is the South Holland coast region. It is home to four million people, most of whom live below normal sea level. The loss of human life in a catastrophic flood here can be very large because there is very little warning time with North Sea storms, and so comprehensive evacuation is not a realistic option for the Holland coastal region. The commission initially set the acceptable risk for complete failure of every "dike ring" in the country at 1 in 125,000 years.

However the cost of building this level of protection was deemed too high, so the acceptable risk was set according to region as follows: North and South Holland (excluding Wieringermeer): 1 per 10,000 years Other areas at risk from sea flooding: 1 per 4,000 years Transition areas between high land and low land: 1 per 2,000 years River flooding causes less damage than salt water flooding so areas at risk from river flooding have a higher acceptable risk. River flooding also has a longer warning time, making for a lower estimated death toll. South Holland at risk from river flooding: 1 per 1,250 years Other areas at risk from river flooding: 1 per 250 years. These acceptable risks were enshrined in the Delta law, requiring the government to keep risks of catastrophic flooding within these limits and to upgrade defences should new insights into risks require this. These limits are also incorporated into the new Water Law , effective from 22 December 2009. The Delta Project (of which the Delta Works are a part) has been designed with these guidelines in mind. All other primary defences have been upgraded to meet the norm.

New data elevating the risk assessment on expected sea level rise due to global warming has brought ten 'weak points' to the fore. These are currently being upgraded to meet the future demands. This work is expected to be completed in 2015. For rivers an upgrade is underway, which is expected to be finished in 2017. Alterations to the plan during the execution of the Works During the execution of the works alterations were made due to public pressure. In the Nieuwe Waterweg heightening and the associated widening of the dikes proved very difficult because of the historic buildings that would have to be destroyed. Therefore, a storm surge barrier would be built (the Maeslantkering ) and dikes were only partly built up. Oosterscheldekering , the largest of thirteen Delta Works' dams. The Oosterschelde was originally to be dammed and turned into a fresh water lake, leading to the loss of the saltwater ecosystem and, consequently, the harvesting of oysters. Environmentalists and fishermen combined their efforts to prevent the closure and successfully pressured parliament to amend the original plan. Instead of completely damming the estuary, a storm surge barrier would be built.

This exists today as a collection of very large valves. The storm surge barrier only closes when the sea-level is expected to rise 3 meters above mean sea level. Under normal conditions the estuary's mouth is open and salt water flows in and out with the tide. Consequently, the weak dikes along the Oosterschelde needed to be strengthened. This strengthening had not been done yet because the Oosterschelde would be dammed. Over 200 km of the dike needed new revetments. The connections between the Eastern Scheldt and the neighboring Haringvliet had to be dammed to limit the effect of the salt water. Extra dams and locks were needed at the east part of the Oosterschelde to create a shipping route between the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Current status The works were finished after almost fifty years in 1997 with the completion of the Maeslantkering in the Nieuwe Waterweg between Maassluis and Hoek van Holland and the Hartelkering in the Hartel Canal near Spijkenisse .

In reality the works were finished on 24 August 2010 with the official opening of the last strengthened and raised retaining wall near the city of Harlingen, Netherlands . Due to climate change and relative sea-level rise, the dikes will eventually have to be made higher and wider. This is a long term uphill battle against the sea. The needed level of flood protection and the resulting costs are a recurring subject of debate. Currently, reinforcement of the dike revetments along the Oosterschelde and Westerschelde is underway. The revetments have proven to be insufficient and need to be replaced. This work started in 1996 and should be finished in 2015. In that period the Ministry of Public Works and Water Management in cooperation with the waterboards will have reinforced over 400 km of dikes. [1] In September 2008, the Delta commission presided by Dutch politician Cees Veerman advised in a report that the Netherlands would need a massive new building program to strengthen the country's water defenses against the anticipated effects of global warming for the next 190 years.

This commission was created in September 2007 after the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans prompted reflection and preparations. Those included drawing up worst-case scenarios for evacuations. The plans included more than €100 billion, or $144 billion, in new spending through the year 2100 for measures, such as broadening coastal dunes and strengthening sea and river dikes . The commission said the country must plan for a rise in the North Sea of 1.3 meters by 2100 and 4 meters by 2200. [2] Projects The works that are part of the Delta Works are listed in chronological order with their year of completion: Delta Works Data Facilities Today – December_2012 : Innovative Advances In Flood Control And Water Clean-Up Technology Innovative Advances In Flood Control And Water Clean-Up Technology Adam Eckstein The recent, devastating floods caused by Hurricane Sandy in the northeastern United States have once again put a focus on the importance of state and local governments continuing to improve their emergency planning and technological capabilities to deal with flood control emergencies, waterrelated damage, and post-flooding clean-up responsibilities.

Many local emergency planners have now seen first-hand the danger of simply relying on outdated and inadequate technologies and methodologies to combat emergency flooding disasters. The need for adequate flood control planning may become even more important in the coming years. Many scientists believe that global warming issues and changing solar cycles may accelerate flood-related emergencies in the next few decades. In response to this increased threat, government administrators and emergency planners must be ready. It is vital that planners be aware of, understand, and be prepared to utilize innovative advances in the areas of flood control and water clean-up technologies. Flood control has historically been handled through a combination of large-scale regional infrastructure defenses and localized emergency flood control techniques. Large-scale infrastructure defenses include such methodologies as dams, flood gates, barrier islands, and dikes. Localized emergency flood control techniques have generally consisted of sand bag barriers, temporary pumping stations, portable air-filled or plastic flood barriers, and environmentally unfriendly chemical solutions. Large-scale infrastructure defenses are a vital part of flood control planning. European government planners have led the way in developing effective, large-scale solutions. The Delta Works in Holland are a great example of extremely innovative and effective infrastructure defenses.

The Delta Works is a series of huge construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from ocean flooding. The works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dikes, levees, and other storm surge barriers. The aim of the Delta Works was to shorten the Dutch coastline, and allow planners to reduce the number of dikes that had to be built. The Delta Works have been declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Saint Petersburg Flood Prevention Facility Complex is another example of an innovative flood control infrastructure defense in Russia. Completed in 2008, this series of dams is designed to protect Saint Petersburg from storm surges and also serves as a main traffic ring road in the metropolitan area. Other prominent European flood systems such as the Thames Barrier in London and the Venice, Italy Barriers, are considered outdated and would not adequately suppress rising sea levels. In the USA, large-scale flood control planning has been woefully inadequate. The catastrophic failure of the flood control systems in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area during Hurricane Katrina pointed out the disastrous results of outdated preparation.

More than 50 percent of the metropolitan area was flooded with between several inches up to 20 feet of water during the storm. The federal government in the United States has instituted some effective flood control programs such as the purchase and conversion of flood prone areas into wetland barriers. However, regional and local government planners have had to be in the vanguard of large-scale flood protection in this country. Flood control districts have been a vital component of local governments around all of the major rivers in United States for the last century. Localized emergency flood control methodologies also have a mixed history of success. Many local planners have been saddled with outdated technology and inadequate funding to provide comprehensive protection services. Public works officials and administrators must constantly research and understand the many new technology solutions available to assist in protection and clean-up responsibilities. Sandbag protection has been the preferred “go-to” method by local planners to fill gaps in permanent flood protection technologies. When used properly, sandbags can provide low coast floodwater protection to low lying property. Unfortunately, using sandbags is hard, time consuming work and can only be effective when there is adequate manpower and time to face oncoming flood waters.

Transportation, storage, and disposal issues are also major disadvantages of using sandbags as flood control devices. Other older-style, temporary water control devices such as portable barrier solutions also have many disadvantages. Storage and disbursement of rigid plastic or air filled barriers can be extremely costly and inefficient. Trained personnel must be available to ensure proper assembly and effective placement. These barriers are only as effective as their weakest link and are subject to catastrophic failure when high winds combine with storm surge. After a flood, water cleanup is the next crucial issue facing emergency planners. Traditional sandbags and temporary barriers become part of the clean-up problem and are of no assistance in removing water before additional damage occurs. Chemical clean-up substances offer a partial solution to water clean-up, but can only be used in open areas and generally pose an environmental hazard. Fortunately, technology is catching up in the area of flood control and water clean-up. Innovative companies such as FloodSax, a leader in the water control industry, are developing cutting edge technologies, such as sandless sandbags to assist local emergency planners in both prevention and clean-up responsibilities.

Good, innovative flood control bags act like traditional sandbags, but one of the advantages of sandless sandbags is no special training or extra personnel are required to deploy or use them. Effective, sandless sandbags give their customers unmatched floodwater protection through a semi-porous inner liner within each bag, which contains gelling polymer. This gelling polymer absorbs water and allows the flood control bag to become taut and full in just over three minutes (100 percent activated in five minutes). Once the water is absorbed, it stays there and the bags act just like sandbags to keep floods at bay. The sandless bags are designed to mold together into an effective, pliable flood shield that keeps floodwater out. Sandless sandbags can also be efficiently deployed as clean-up water absorption devices. An effective, sandless sandbag can absorb up to 45 pounds of water in five minutes. Within three minutes, an efficient bag should absorb up to 90 percent of its capacity. An additional benefit to sandless sandbags is their light weight. This enables the flood bags to be transported in vans in the thousands. The light weight also allows for an easy deployment that can be done in half the time of traditional flood control methods.

After the flood danger has passed, environmentally friendly sandless sandbags can be disposed of in traditional landfills. This makes them ideal for use in clean-up efforts. Finally, on an individual property owner level, many new products are available to fortify a property against flood waters. High-end stormdoors, windows, and in-wall flood barriers should all be recommended by city planners to property owners in flood prone areas. Local planners should also be in the forefront in assisting property owners with architectural innovations such as water-resistant materials, elevated structures, and land flood management techniques to control water flow. Flood control and water clean-up planning has become a necessity. Make sure that your planning includes a cost effective, comprehensive, and innovation combination of solutions before the next flood emergency occurs. Adam Eckstein is Sales Manager for FloodSax with its Florida office in Boca Raton. For more information, visit FT VIEW ALL ARTICLES View on the Delta Works in The Netherlands.flv - YouTube View on the Delta Works in The Netherlands.flv Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now.

Please try again later. Uploaded on Dec 20, 2011 The Dutch have an eternal war with water. They have conquered the sea and floods, but it was a hard fight. The Dutch built dikes to protect the country against floods. Windmills were used to pump the water out of the areas below sea level and later to drain lakes into polders, because of the need for more land. The Dutch polders are now famous scenery in Holland. The Dutch also made a large dam (Afsluitdijk) to separate the Southern Sea (Zuiderzee) from the North Sea and turned it into a giant lake, the IJsselmeer. Later on, the province of Flevoland was created as a large polder island in the IJsselmeer. Delta Works The most recent big flood was in 1953 during a giant storm. The province of Sealand (Zeeland) was flooded after the collapse of several dikes and more than 1,800 people drowned.

The Dutch government decided that this must never happen again and they initiated the Delta Works, a project that lasted almost 50 years with big dikes, dams and storm surge barriers, which was completed in 1997. Before that time it was already famous worldwide. Now, the American Society of Civil Engineers recognizes it as one of the seven wonders of modern world. Since the Dutch are famous for water management, they are hired for projects all over the world. For more information, please visit Category

Question: The ‘Delta Works’ is a series of construction projects in which European country, to protect large areas of land from the sea?
Answer: Netherlands