In order to be well prepared for more extreme high water in the future, the Ringdijk in Amsterdam's Watergraafsmeer district must be reinforced. The dike is high enough, but not strong enough. The reinforcement is not done in a traditional way, but with so-called dike stabilizers.
This reinforces the dike from the inside and nails it to the subsoil. This allows the dike to keep its existing shape, it does not have to be widened or raised and the trees can remain on it. The technique is being used for the first time in a real, water-resistant dike. Many weaker dikes in the Netherlands are likely to benefit from nailing them to the subsoil. That is why this innovation is fully funded by the national High Water Protection Program (HWBP), which will strengthen more than 1,100 kilometers of dikes throughout the Netherlands in the coming years.
The project
The Ringdijk is located on the south side of the Ring canal in Amsterdam. The section between Wibautstraat and Middenweg must be reinforced. After this dyke reinforcement, the Ringdijk will protect the residents in the Watergraafsmeer for years to come against extreme high water.
Martin Schepers, program leader POVM: "Putting innovations into practice needs care: we sometimes don't know everythingbefore we start. But the 'task' that an innovation like this has in the barrier safety system, and the possibilities offered by monitoring to see and understand how strength increases in the subsurface, should give confidence for sustainable application."
The technique
The dike stabilizers, plastic anchor elements, are inserted obliquely into the dike where the extra force is needed. The force of in the dike is monitored twice daily. This is done by linking sensors to a total work force system through Vodafone data technology NB-iot. A total of 700 stabilizers will be installed in the dike. The installation is done with relatively light equipment and has less impact on the environment than piling or vibrating sheet piling or retaining berms. For the surrounding area, it results in less inconvenience. The project, commissioned by Waternet and carried out by JLD Contracting, will be completed in February 2019.
Working together for a safer Netherlands
The implementation of this innovative dike reinforcement project is funded by the national High Water Protection Program (HWBP), a collaboration between Rijkswaterstaat and the water boards. In the coming years, the HWBP will be responsible for the largest dike reinforcement operation ever. More than 1,100 kilometers of dikes and 486 locks and pumping stations must be tackled until 2028. Spread over almost 300 projects throughout the Netherlands, along the coast, large rivers and lakes. The HWBP allocates 7.4 billion euros for this dike reinforcement operation. We are constantly investigating how dike reinforcement can be done better, faster and cheaper. This is done within project-transcending exploratory studies (POVs). Within the POV Macrostability, one of the POVs of the HWBP, market parties, knowledge institutes and government authorities investigate and test solutions for the macro-stability failure mechanism. These include new calculation methods and techniques, such as dike nailing and vacuum consolidation.
