As I discussed in the earlier blog where we went to the Watersnoodsmuseum, the Dutch have been dealing with flooding and water control for centuries. As we visited the Deltaworks early in the morning, we began to learn and observe how they’ve curated a solution that is both sustainable environmentally and socially while protecting them for the next 100-200 years.

The Deltaworks are a series of dams, not dykes, whose construction began in 1956 following the floods of 1953. Their construction took 30 years, as these engineers had to face new problems that nobody had faced before. They set out to build the biggest dam system, consisting of 54 dam structures lines up around the outer delta (coast by the North sea) of the Netherlands. As we walked near them, we could see the shear size and power of these structures. Each dam piece weighted around 180 thousand tons, being made almost purely of concrete. The dams are each equipped with a steel gate that is kept open unless the tide is extremely high. By having their gates open, the dams protect the natural water flow and sustain the biodiversity of the ecosystem where they are located. To determine tidal height, these dams are equipped with visual markers that show where the water level is in relation to “Amsterdam Level”, and the dams have their gates positioned in response to this.

Through their immense strength, the dams have protected the Dutch from never experiencing a similar catastrophe to the 1953 floods, or anything of a even smaller magnitude since their construction. The dams provide social sustainability along with economic sustainability through constant protection of Dutch civilization, reducing the deaths and casualties caused by natural disasters. Additionally, the dam also stops the need to spend resources on emergency responses and reconstruction efforts that may have been required if flooding were to constantly occur.

Although it’s construction wasn’t a green project like many of our earlier visits, the Deltaworks provided us with a demonstration of a large-scale engineering project that provides sustainability through its benefits to society, and consideration for long-term impacts on the environment. Additionally, it was meant to last for 100-200 years as mentioned earlier. However, this lifespan may be shorted due to climate change as tidal heights rise through sea levels rising as well, which may result in the dam gates not being large enough.