Reinforcing Markermeerdijk Hoorn - Amsterdam

Client Water Board Hollands Noorderkwartier

Location Markermeerdijk, Province of North Holland

Period 2008 - present

Project Manager Martijn Karelse Project size Until 2012, the work concerned the section of dike between Edam and Amsterdam. The project was then combined with Hoorn-Edam, and since then there is intensive cooperation with Arcadis for the entire dike section.

The challenge The Hoorn - Amsterdam dike section forms part of a ring of management and process management, the internal and water barriers that protects the province of North Holland. external communication, and in developing a vision for the According to the current standards, the stability of the dike can project. no longer be guaranteed under extreme conditions such as long-lasting high water levels on the Markermeer. It is The result necessary to reinforce the dike (over approx. 33 km) to be able Royal HaskoningDHV is responsible for drawing up the project to continue to protect the population and the land against initiation documentation, many additional studies, the flooding. The dike needs to be reinforced in an area with very environmental impact assessment report and associated soft ground (peat), protected rural views, a rich cultural history, investigations, permits, SE, spatial quality framework, 3D a main ecological network, an intensive recreation, and a hydraulic engineering design, visualisations, integrated design, somewhat limited access. cost estimation, realisation advice and, finally, the dike improvement plan. These reports take stock of and assess The solution different approaches to solutions. This includes innovative The purpose of the dike reinforcement is to guarantee the concepts such as the Oeverdijk. The ‘Dijken op Veen’ (dikes on safety of the dike section for at least 50 years. The objective is peat) study was integrated as much as possible. In part by to create a safe, future-proof water barrier that is appropriate to using this, and on the basis of a description of the current its environment. The existing functions and valuable elements spatial quality of the dike and the defined design criteria, are retained as much as possible and the opportunities for variants have been established for each dike section. The these aspects are utilised. Aside from working out the details, designs of the preferred alternatives that are determined for Royal HaskoningDHV plays an important role in the project each dike section are worked out in the dike improvement plan.