Sea-resistant storm flood surge barriers in the Netherlands

Résumé du document

Water is essential for life but this element which appeared just after the formation of our planet can also be very destructive. For centuries, the sea has shown itself to be a destructive force, which mankind must always take into account. We often consider these phenomena as a kind of revenge of nature. The inhabitants of the Netherlands often had to cope with flood disasters.

The name of the country gives us a clue of the problem : "Netherlands" literally means "the Low Countries". When a storm develops and the wind stirs up the waves, the Dutch coastal area can become flooded. To protect people, structures like dams and dikes have been built. These defences shouldn't have a major effect on their surroundings, the movable storm flood surge barrier was the result.

At present, there are only a handful of European countries, which manage or construct large sea-resistant storm flood surge barriers. These are the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Italy and Russia. So, knowledge of these unique objects is scarce and it demands very specific knowledge and experience especially now when climate change and sea level rise are recognised facts that should be taken into account.

But what historical reasons are at the origin of this involvement of human in the arrangement of his environment ? How does the government find a solution to solve this mortal problem ? How can water be such destructive ? How does storm flood surge barrier act to protect the population ?

Extraits

[...] 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. All the sea-arms were closed 25 years later. Constructions of the Delta Plan in South-West Netherlands (the number one is the one we are going to study) II] Storm and wave phenomena The formation of a storm The atmospheric depressions ensure the stability of the temperatures that we can observe in the atmosphere: they are the representation in the extratropical zone of the necessary exchange of heat between the equator and the two poles. [...]

[...] Sea-resistant storm flood surge barriers in the Netherlands Introduction Water is essential for life but this element which appeared just after the formation of our planet can also be very destructive. For centuries, the sea has shown itself to be a destructive force, which mankind must always take into account. We often consider these phenomena as a kind of revenge of nature. The inhabitants of the Netherlands often had to cope with flood disasters. The name of the country gives us a clue of the problem : “Netherlands” literally means Low Countries”. [...]

[...] Wind waves Wind waves or more precisely wind generated waves are surface waves that occur on the free surface of oceans, lakes, rivers, seas . They are usually the consequence of the wind that blows over a vast enough fluid surfaces. Wind waves in the ocean are called ocean surface waves and can travel thousands of kilometers before reaching the coast. They can vary in size from small ripples to huge rogue waves. Four factors influence the formation of wind waves: the wind speed, the distance of open water that the wind has blown over also called fetch which determines the size of waves produced, the time duration that wind has blown over the area and the water depth. [...]

[...] The pressure difference is so large that a ship of equal measurements would capsize instantly. The unique shape of the barrier prevents this from happening. The structure of the Maeslant barrier is a model of architecture. The most important part of this work of art are the ball-and-sockets joints. Even if the arms of the barrier can look very impressive, the ball-sockets joint are essentials for the functioning of the barrier. They ensure the gates can move in all direction: vertically when sinking down and horizontally when sailing out. [...]

[...] Usefulness The storm surge barrier of Rotterdam enables the protection of about one million people in South-Holland. It's simple; the Maeslant barrier is indispensable for the country. Everybody knows the current issue of global warming. In the near future, the consequences of our act will be visible for every one of us. In this consequence: the sea water is rising up more and more due to the rising of the sea level. For that point, the barrier of Maeslant becomes increasingly important. [...]