Since more than half of the Netherlands is situated below sea level, the Dutch have developed extensive knowledge and centuries of experience in protecting their citizens against floods. Dutch engineering firm ARCADIS, with over 5.000 employees in their US offices, recently presented a conceptual design for a storm surge barrier at the Verrazano Narrows to protect the New York metropolitan area.
Piet Dircke, global director water management of ARCADIS, explains: ‘New York academics are currently researching this problem. They are very interested in the Dutch solutions and technologies; these don’t really exist in the US yet. ARCADIS has its roots in the Netherlands and has a longstanding experience in urban delta flood protection.
New York's present sea defenses allow for major flooding once every 100 years. In comparison, defenses in the Netherlands allow for such floods only once every 10,000 years. Parts of the New York and New Jersey Metropolitan Area are below the maximum water level of a probable storm surge and are increasingly vulnerable to flooding, due to climate change.
Dircke: ‘Such a surge would cause significant damage to real estate and economic activities in New York. Although the area is not below sea level, there are risks as tunnels and the subway systems may flood.
The proposed barrier in the Verrazano Narrows, combined with two other barriers at the East River and the Arthur Kill, would minimize the danger of a storm surge entering from the Atlantic Ocean into the Upper New York Bay. The system integrates the properties of two sea defense systems in the Netherlands: the storm surge barrier and dam at Oosterschelde in the province of Zealand, a huge construction comprising 18 floodgates which move up and down; and the Maeslantkering storm surge barrier near Rotterdam where two enormous gates open sideways.
Over time ARCADIS has been involved in the reinforcement of more than half of the Netherlands river dikes and some of the Dutch flood gates. At the moment ARCADIS is involved in several projects in the Netherlands aimed at upgrading the coastal flood protection system. In New Orleans ARCADIS is also largely involved in upgrading the individual set of levees, gates and barriers into an integrated hurricane protection system of dikes, levees, flood gates and pump stations.
: ARCADIS’ international water experts create value in water management, flood protection, delta technology, hydraulic and coastal engineering. Protecting against flood risks, safeguarding a good and healthy water quality, developing coastal zones, ports and other water-related systems: ARCADIS offers innovative, integrated solutions for many water and climate change related issues. ARCADIS’ Dutch heritage is a guarantee for state of the art solutions. With more than 14,000 employees and over EUR 1.7 billion in gross revenue, the company has an extensive international network that is supported by strong local market positions.
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