Tough dike innovative solution to rising water safety costs

Water safety is an essential part of Dutch infrastructure. However, the rising cost of reinforcing dikes requires innovative and sustainable solutions. Fortunately, the latest development in this field, the so-called "tough dike," offers a promising answer. 

Currently, about one billion euros is spent annually on water safety in the Netherlands. While this may seem like a considerable sum, it is relatively modest in relation to our gross national product. Yet the challenge is to keep these costs manageable if we want to continue to live and work safely behind our dikes as the climate changes and sea levels rise. In addition, reinforcement is needed about every 50 years and may be much earlier due to climate change. This is where tough dikes come in, an innovative approach that can not only reduce costs but also significantly improve long-term safety and postpone another dike reinforcement. 

Traditional levees are designed to retain water to a high level of safety. If severe damage occurs to the levee (at high water levels), a breach will occur in the levee, which can lead to catastrophic flooding. Tough dikes, on the other hand, are designed to fail in a controlled manner, which increases the time for evacuation and damage control. This concept uses erosion-resistant materials such as clay and/or strategically placed sheet pile walls, which ensure that the dike will "breach" only slowly. 

The advantages of tough levees are clear for the levee designs that Fugro produces: they may require a somewhat higher initial investment, but they last longer (because overall safety is increased) and reduce long-term maintenance costs. Moreover, they can better deal with unforeseen changes in water levels and climate, providing a future-proof solution. By making levees tougher, we can extend the life of this critical infrastructure and reduce the frequency of costly reinforcement projects. 

Realizing tough levees requires close cooperation between hydraulic engineers and policy makers. The government plays a crucial role here by investing in research and innovation and by creating regulations that encourage innovative dike designs. In addition, an integrated approach is needed in which dikes are combined with nature zones, which not only benefits water safety but also contributes to biodiversity and enriches the landscape. A tough dike can thus also offer ecological opportunities.