Table of Contents
Questions
General Questions for Experts:
Most important protection design criteria/assumptions for the design of dikes and protection structures:
- Overarching design considerations (soil conditions, biology, wind, tides, waves, hydrology, water depth, availability of materials, …)
- Which waves are most important - long, short waves from deep sea vs. nearshore tall waves?
- Interplay between coastal protection and maintenance of shipping channel, flood gates, locks
- Fish tunnels / wildlife protection considerations
- Data required (peak number, high/low, average, …), e.g., for the Rhine what data is or would be critical to have
- What critical factors drive the conceptual design of a dike for a location?
- What are the major cost drivers in building and maintaining a dike?
- Importance of land subsidence?
- Example of a conceptual design and material and cost estimate vs. a detailed design and material and cost estimate for the same dike
- Sources of funding for construction - local, state, federal, international levels
- Differences between dike design in Nordic areas (i.e. where a lot of the research has been done) vs. Pacific Coast and Atlantic Coast
- Best suite of approaches: dikes, breakwaters, locks, beach nourishment, seawalls, relocation, artificial reefs, levies, groins, dunes, etc.
- How much risk is tolerable, and what should be the priority factors in assessing risk?
- Design flood - 1/2500, 1/10000, or another factor (probability of design flood per year)
- Major equipment needed and output (production) of the equipment
- Different designs that can be built by specialized vs. general construction firms
Emerging materials and other methods:
- What is the current use of synthetic materials in coastal protection and construction?
- What are promising emerging methods of design and construction?
Specific Questions for Experts in the Netherlands:
Dike systems in place in the Netherlands:
- Total length
- Maximum height/depth/width, typical height/depth/width
- Most common type(s)
- Most common cross section(s)
- Cost to rebuild today
- Maintenance efforts/expenditures required
- Design life and acceptable risk (e.g., designed for a 10,000 year storm)
Engineering and construction capacity in the Netherlands (or serving the Netherlands):
- Number of contractors that can build large-scale dikes
- Number of engineering firms who can provide design and inspection services
- Major equipment available