Impact of the Delta Works on the Recent Developments in Hydraulic Engineering K.W. Pilarczyk* * Rijkswaterstaat, Hydraulic Engineering Institute, Delft, The Netherlands
[email protected]; k.pilarczyk@ planet.nl Disaster in 1953 was a turning point in the Dutch policy on History shows that flooding disasters nearly always flood protection. The Delta Works, which followed this resulted into actions to improve the situation by raising disaster, contributed significantly to the recent worldwide dikes or improving the discharge capacity of the rivers. The developments in hydraulic engineering. A brief overview is disastrous flood of 1953 marks the start of a national presented of some important items related to closure reinforcement of the flood protection structures. The recent techniques, erosion, scour and protection, specifically. river floods of 1993 and 1995 did accelerate the final stages of this reinforcement programme. History also shows that neglect is the overture for the next flooding disaster. In an I. INTRODUCTION attempt to improve on this historic experience the safety of the flood protection structures in the Netherlands will be assessed regularly. Maintaining the strength of the dikes at level according to the legally prescribed safety standards is the main goal of this safety assessment. II. HISTORY To understand the historical development of the protection by dikes in the Netherlands, it is essential to know the aspect of the gradual land subsidence in combination with rise of the sea level with respect to the land and also the decreasing deposits of soil by the North Sea and the rivers (Fig. 2) [1]. Figure 1.