Today was another day when we drove away from Rotterdam. I woke up early around 7 so that I could get ready and eat breakfast. This morning, the breakfast area was flooded with a new and much larger group of French students at the hotel. I was able to eat breakfast, and then we settled onto the bus for an hour and a half drive. Surprisingly, I stayed awake during the drive and was able to see the passing countryside and small bays fed by the rivers from the North Sea that we were now following. We finally arrived at Neeltje Jans for our tour of the Delta Works. The museum’s name was an interesting story told by our guide. The name is derived from Nehalennia, the goddess of the sea, to whom fishermen pray and have her altar in their homes. However, to slightly differentiate, they changed the name slightly. The Delta Works derives its name from the Delta Plan or Delta Law. The Delta Law, stated in 1957, four years following the deadly flood, mandated that all of the Deltas would be closed in order to protect the Netherlands. Today, we were learning about this construction and the hydroengineering behind these marvelous storm surge barriers.

Sustainability is a significant factor in the Netherlands, as seen by the numerous solar farms and wind turbines. In fact, our guide told us that 12% of the Netherlands’ energy is from renewable sources, and they aim to make that 14% by next year. Ironically, the US has 20% renewable energy, but the consumption is much higher. The Delta Plan also required sustainability practices. The original plan was to drop large reinforced concrete blocks from a cable to completely close the Deltas. This plan would cost 500 million Euros and would solve the problems required of a storm surge barrier. However, due to the vast ecosystem within the deltas and the needs of fishermen as well as locals, a new plan was required. This new plan, which would cost 2 billion Euros, ensured the sustainment of the ecosystem. This plan was to make flood gates that would stay open and close only if the conditions became too poor. A now larger issue, also connected to global sustainability, is the rising of the ocean levels. Unfortunately, it is evident that eventually, the storm surge barrier may not be enough.

The most interesting part of this entire project, however, was the idea of concept to consumer. The concept is obviously to seal all of the deltas and ensure the Netherlands is safe. What’s unique, though, is that this project actually appeals to many different consumers and uses, showing that there are often unintended positive uses of new technologies. The storm surge barrier was built in six years, five years to craft all of the components and a year to place them. The process began by dredging the area where the barrier would sit. Then, cloth mats that were full of stone and sand were laid across the ocean floor. During this time, large concrete piers reinforced by rebar were being built. The Dutch needed a large amount of ingenuity for this project, and they built three different watercrafts for the building purposes. The first was a special boat that would lower down the equivalent of a drill that would vibrate and turn up the sand on the ocean floor prior to a mat rolling down. Another specially built boat would roll down the mat. When the mat was placed, and the piers were ready to be dropped, they did something else unique. The area where the piers were built was flooded. This occurred so that a large ship could enter and pick up the piers in order to place them. They were placed with such precision that the largest deviation was 10 cm. This all happened in the 80s as well. Concrete connectors are lowered into the water by another specially made boat, and the gates were attached. Some components of the storm surge barrier weighed up to 20 tons. The precision of this is incredible. Finally, a highway was built on top of the barrier. The gates themselves have been closed 32 times since the 80s.

The different consumers were aided by the storm surge barriers in different ways. For starters, the people of the Netherlands can know they are much safer from a storm, but also other neighboring countries are safer due to the Delta Plan. The highway atop the barrier has eased traffic congestion and has connected areas of the Netherlands that were hardly accessible before or took long distances to get to. Locks built into the barriers allow fishermen and other vessels to enter and exit. The storm surge area has also been turned into a bit of a wind farm as well, with numerous wind turbines being present on the artificial island. Overall, the sheer ingenuity of the Dutch to engineer this storm surge barrier is incredible and is even now being considered for places like New Orleans and other flood-risk areas.

We also had the opportunity to explore and view the aquarium and pet some stingrays, while outside, we looked at seals. Ending the day with a boat ride, it was truly an amazing experience.