On day 10, we traveled south to the Delta Works!

The Delta Works, which protect large parts of the Netherlands from the North Sea, are one of the world’s most impressive examples of engineering and flood defense. Our day started at the visitors center, where we watched a short movie and were given a guided tour about the creation of the Delta Works. We learned that the Delta Works were created as a result of the tragic 1953 North Sea flood and took over 40 years to complete. When I saw the sheer size of the dikes and how complex the defenses were, I understood why the project took so long.

The visitors center is located along the Oosterschelde storm surge barrier, so our tour guide based a lot of the tour around this specific defense system. This storm surge barrier is made up of 65 concrete pillars, each weighing the equivalent of 230,000 people, and together 15 million people! One of the most fascinating parts of the tour was learning how each once of these massive pillars was transported into position by boat with a margin of error of just a few centimeters. The engineering that it took to move each pillar was equally impressive as the engineering it took to make them.

The Delta Works are also extremely impressive from a sustainability standpoint as well. The flood defenses were originally designed to be a closed dam system, but were changed to include gates due to environmental concerns. The gates can be closed during storms but stay open most of the time. Keeping the gates open allows the tide and saltwater to flow, which preserves the natural ecosystem and protects local marine life. It was awesome to see how the Dutch valued local marine life, even if a closed dam would’ve been the most effective defense system.

Our guide also explained how the Delta Works are constantly being monitored and maintained in anticipation of rising sea levels in the area due to climate change. Maintaining the Delta Works costs over 30 million euros each year, but it’s a necessary cost to keep Holland safe.

The scale and precision of the Delta Works made it one of our most memorable visits yet. As an engineering major, it was really helpful to see how sustainability and other environmental factors are involved in large projects.