Dutch turn dikes into innovative sites to fight floods

Multifunctional, technology enhanced and innovative water defence levees figure prominently in the largest ever dike reinforcement program undertaken in the Netherlands, adding new impetus to the low-lying country's millennium long fight against flooding.

"With sea levels climbing and climate change expected to boost storm frequency and intensity in the Northern Sea and increase discharges in the rivers reinforcing and making the dike system much safer has become an absolute necessity," Richard Jorissen, director of the flood protection program at the Dutch national and regional water authorities, told Xinhua in an interview.

Dutch dikes are subject to strict safety criteria requiring that almost one third (1,100 km) of the prime dikes and 256 locks and pumps undergo reinforcement. As of 2017 the safety criteria will become even stricter to reflect the increased population and values protected by the dikes.

In response to changing social, urban and economic needs the main players involved, Rijkswaterstaat and regional water boards, sought to augment the 300 repair projects with new functions, while combining innovative and cost-effective approaches.

"Our endeavour is not just to repair infrastructure. We aim at adding new dimensions to the dikes and combine them with coastal, urban, agricultural, spatial and high technology developments," explained the Dutch engineer in charge of a proposed 7.4-billion-euro (about 8 billion U.S. dollars) package of flood-protection upgrades until 2028.