Assessing the functional end of life of critical hydraulic structures in The Netherlands

Abstract

Next decades, many hydraulic structures in the Netherlands will reach their end of life. Timely mitigation requires accurate estimates of the end of life. This appears however hard since many external drivers and multiple functions may lead in many plausible combinations to insufficient technical or functional performance. As a consequence, a complete integrated assessment is rather labour intensive and time consuming. This study shows a quick-scan of the end of life of five storm surge barriers and three other critical hydraulic structures in the Netherlands. The quick-scan reveals that sea-level rise is the major driver for the end of life of most coastal hydraulic structures since it impacts both the free discharge capacity and the flood protection function. Yet, the strategy to adapt the river delta to climate change may be even more important. Future developments are however such uncertain that the life time assessments may prove especially useful for the exploration of adaptive asset management strategies and to a lesser extent as an accurate planning tool.