FloodProBE......In the News

FloodProbe WP4 reflects on Louisiana's draft Coastal Management Plan

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

WP4 members of FloodProbe have participated in The Building Resilience Workshop (BRW) III, which has been held in New Orleans on Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon, 15-17 March, 2012.

The workshop has been organized with the goals of identifying and fostering the implementation of innovative and sustainable strategies to reduce New Orleans' and South Louisiana's vulnerability to potentially catastrophic hazards, both natural and man-made, particularly those resulting in severe flooding.

The State of Louisiana has recently released its Draft 2012 Coastal Master Plan. One entire day of sessions at the BRW III was focussed on the Master Plan and its implications for coastal Louisiana communities. Workshop participants participated in break-out discussions on the impact of the Master Plan on these communities and their neighbours, and what transitioning strategies will best prepare us all for the changes that the implementation of the Master Plan will bring over the next several decades. The draft Coastal Master Plan can be downloaded at: http://www.coastalmasterplan.louisiana.gov/2012-master-plan/final-master-plan/

Photo (Nico van Os); Rebuilt Flood Wall Low New Orleans

Drying of Flooded Buildings

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Drying of flooded buildings is an important factor in restoring them to their original condition, and allowing normal activities to resume. Use of different materials or drying methods can influence the time taken to achieve the required moisture condition. On the 21st March 2012, Andy Tagg was invited by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to present on a Government research project that had considered the whole issue of drying as part of the restoration process. This research had produced a 'signposting' report, that set out a number of key issues involved in restoring flooded buildings, and gave examples of documents that addressed each one. Andy's talk was followed by three others which developed these themes, and included a update on the production of a new Code of Practice, PAS64, which will set out guidelines for optimising the drying process. This will include consideration of the type of flooding suffered, the type of building and function, and comparison of methods to minimise cost, carbon emissions and time. The new guideline is likely to be available to the public in September 2012 and will be of relevance to the guidance produced by FloodProBE.

FloodProBE will be represented at Sustainable City 2012

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

FloodProBE will be represented at Sustainable City 2012 7 - 9 May 2012, Ancona, Italy, with a partner giving a paper entitled "Development of a tool to estimate individual building vulnerability to floods".

This is the 7th International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology.

This conference aims to address the many inter-related aspects of the urban environment from transport and mobility to social exclusion and crime prevention. The meeting will build on the contributions made in previous conferences, which successfully managed to provide an international view of the problems facing modern cities and their solutions. The paper will be included in the section devoted to "Planning for Natural Hazards".

Link to Sustainable City 2012: http://www.wessex.ac.uk/12-conferences/sustainable-city-2012/page-3.html

FloodProBE @ SMARTeST in 2012

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

FloodProBE will be represented at SMARTeST Conferences during 2012 giving presentations at the UK and Athens Conferences

The SMARTeST project is an EC FP7 funded project that has been running in parallel with FloodProBE and equally seeks to develop new and flexible strategies for a more holistic approach of flood risk management. SMARTeST seeks to build on the drive for Flood Resilient technology and support the development of smart products that work within in system of flood resilience and can be modelled and implemented within the national regulations and policy.

Partners from FloodProBE will be giving presentations at the two coming conferences focussing on work on building resilience, in particular the use of resilient materials and the estimation of flood damage of buildings according to their construction:

FLOOD RESILIENT COMMUNITIES
BRE Seminar in conjunction with SMARTeST
BRE Garston, Watford, UK
14 June 2012

IMPLEMENTING FLOOD RESILIENCE
SMARTeST International Conference
Athens, Greece
27-28 September 2012

SMARTeST website: www.floodresilience.eu

FloodProBE: Rotterdam Pilot Site

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In Brief

Rotterdam-The Hague Emergency Airport is part of a plan to set up shelters in de vulnerable and populated west of the Netherlands. Next to the shelter function, REA can be the base of emergency response units in case of a flood scenario in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond area. This ambition fits in the national Multi Level Safety three-tier approach to flood risk management.

The challenges are related to the transformation of the existing area into an ‘Emergency Airport Shelter’. This concept is supported by a broad group of public and private stakeholders, among them the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Safety Authority. The goal is to assess, upgrade and add (temporary) flood defences to prevent a flood of REA whilst the Rotterdam-Rijnmond area is flooded.

Assessing:
What is the likelihood of flooding of the airport area in case of a major flood defence breach? How do existing secondary flood defences, highway and railway embankments function as temporary flood defences?
Upgrading:
How can existing secondary flood defences and highway and railway embankments be transformed to meet (new) flood standard requirements?
Adding:
Which potential design solutions are suitable to close the temporary secondary compartment protecting REA in case of a major flood in west Netherlands?

Goals/strategies/tools to be applied

The following G/S/T are being applied within the FloodProBE Rotterdam pilot:

Method and tools for assessing safety of the REA area within dike ring 14 and its flood defences. Dominant failure mechanisms of the defences are part of this, as well as the flood simulation after breach in Rotterdam Rijnmond area.

Inventory of probable flood defences

Design guidance for temporary flood defences. Temporary flood defences have to function for a relatively short time in case of a breach in the primary system.
Technologies and design guidance for temporary flood defences in the created secondary compartment dyke ring.
Technologies and design guidance for smart shelters.
Technologies and design guidance for resilient critical infrastructures and hotspot buildings.

Airport Terminal

For more information or to download a factsheet please visit: http://www.floodprobe.eu/rotterdam.asp

FloodProbe at BUILDING RESILIENCE III, March 15-17, 2012, Implementing Innovative, Sustainable Strategies for Rebuilding a Resilient South Louisiana

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

FloodProBE will be in attendance and speaking at the Building Resilience III workshop to be help in New Orleans on March 15-17, 2012.

The challenge of living with water is one shared by deltaic communities around the world. Nowhere is this more apparent than in post-Katrina New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, where people live with a daily awareness of the threat, and opportunities, of water. The series of Building Resilience Workshops I, II and III have been organised with the goals of identifying and fostering the implementation of innovative and sustainable strategies to reduce New Orleans' and South Louisiana's vulnerability to potentially catastrophic hazards, both natural and man-made, particularly those resulting in severe flooding.

The 2010 Building Resilience Workshop I addressed a broad range of water- and flood-related issues, with discussions centered on sustainable approaches to rebuilding a culture of resilience in southern Louisiana, spurred by impending climate change. The BRW II in 2011 focused on the role that innovative, sustainable infrastructure can play in mitigating catastrophic disaster, both by reducing the risk of harmful consequences from extreme events and by facilitating rapid recovery. The BRW II brought experts from across the globe to share their research on innovative disaster mitigation approaches and transition methodologies that facilitate implementation.

The Building Resilience Workshop III will be held Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon, 15-17 March, 2012. For more information please visit the workshop website at http://resilienceworkshop.org/.

FloodProBE: Dordrecht Pilot Site

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In Brief

The City of Dordrecht (CoD) is setting out to achieve sustainable urban development and it is exploring opportunities to integrate water policy and water safety policy with the urban development process. To achieve this objective, the CoD is developing the Multi Level Safety approach. This is a three-tier approach to flood risk management. The first tier focuses on flood avoidance (i.e., protection). The other two tiers are aimed at limiting the effects of flooding; the second is intended to create a sustainable layout and design (i.e., prevention), and the third seeks to improve the organisational preparations for potential flooding (i.e., preparedness). The challenges, or rather stakeholder questions, for the CoD can be described in relation to the three tiers:

Protection:
What is the likelihood of breaching of the urban flood defences? What are effective design solutions to increase the reliability of the urban flood defences (with a factor 100)? What are potential design solutions for (partially) transforming existing urban flood defences into Multi-functional Flood Defences? How to assess and manage financial, organisational, engineering and operational risks of multi-functional flood defences in an atmosphere of multiple users, administrative rules, and legal frameworks?
Prevention and preparedness:
How to assess the potential need for smart shelters, in terms of capacity and location? What are potential design solutions for transforming public buildings into smart shelters? What is the (cost) effectiveness of smart shelters in terms of reducing the number of evacuees and casualties? How to assess the vulnerability of critical infrastructures and hotspot buildings? What are potential design solutions for resilient critical infrastructures and hotspot buildings?

Goals/strategies/tools to be applied

The following G/S/T are being applied within the FloodProBE Dordrecht pilot:

Method and tools for assessing safety of urban flood defences (fragility curve when relevant). The dominant failure mechanisms of the defences around the Island of Dordrecht are internal erosion and overflow. The CoD is looking for a method and tools to assess in which circumstances the overflow could lead to breaching of the dikes.
Design guidance for urban flood defences (delta dikes). Delta dikes are reinforced dikes that are virtually incapable of breaching. This means that even in the case of a flood event exceeding design thresholds, such a dike would substantially lower the volume of water entering the polder area (Silva and Van Velzen 2008). This can reduce flood extent, depths and velocities.
Technologies and design for multifunctional flood defences, together with financial, organisational, engineering and operational principles. Multi-functional flood defences fulfill societal functions (in addition to flood protection) like housing, recreation and leisure, ecology, mobility and transport, underground infrastructure, and are a functional part of their urban or rural environment. The combination of delta dike and multifunctional flood defence is an interesting perspective for the Dordrecht pilot.

Artist Impression of Multi-functional Flood Defence for Dordrecht, which provides recreational and educational benefits in addition to flood protection

Technologies and design guidance for smart shelters.
Technologies and design guidance for resilient critical infrastructures and hotspot buildings.

For more information or to download a factsheet please visit: http://www.floodprobe.eu/dordrecht.asp

FloodProBE: Trondheim Pilot Site

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In Brief

Trondheim is exposed to three different sources for runoff and flood:

Flooding from the river Nidelva
Starting form the west-end of the biggest lake in South-Trøndelag the river Nidelva enter after 40 km the city centre of Trondheim and discharges into the Trondheim Fjord. Six hydroelectric power plants are located along the river. Due to the large catchment area of 3.178 km²the river carries a lot of water. Due to regulations measures which have reduced the discharge about 110 m³/s compared to the normal conditions smaller floods could be prevented. However, the occurrence of huge flood events could not been avoided (NVE, 2001).
Flooding from the sea during storm events
Gale-force storms in the Trondheim Fjord and spring-tides increases the sea-level up to 50 cm and the water level of the river Nidelva due to backflow.
Flooding in urban drainage system
The sewer system in Trondheim consist of roughly 50% combined system built before 1965, 40% separate system and 10% non active separate system.

About 100 combined sewer systems pollutes the river and the sea during heavy rain and snow melt. On many places in Trondheim the sewer drainage system is not designed for peak runoff discharge. The insufficient capacity of sewer system leads often to flooding.

Goals/strategies/tools to be applied

Natural disasters such a flooding can cause entire lifelines in a city or larger area to fail. In some cases, the government is forced to declare a state of emergency. Even if the flooding is of minor scale it can cause severe damage to infrastructure and critical buildings in which network control units are located. To implement the right protection measures, communities such as Trondheim have to understand the risks from flooding. Risk assessment is a way to qualify and quantify the vulnerability of critical buildings and infrastructure.

A coarse Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA) can help to identify risk events and resulting consequences based on a simple risk estimation, which however cannot provide detailed information of risk such as affecting peoples, properties and infrastructures. Advanced numerical models must be applied to identify risk areas, vulnerable bodies and levels of the risk with regard to given risk scenarios. Up to now a tool was developed to assess the potential risks as a simplified analysis or to calculate the frequency of identified events as a comprehensive analysis. Users can choose the type of analysis according to their needs and preference. The results are based on a simplified analysis. Municipality can use the result as a reference for immediate actions or short or long term planning for adaptation and mitigation and for further analyses. As an important part of urban flood management, planning of stormwater management at municipal level and use of Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) measures are addressed.

SINTEF is following a three-stage approach comprising RVA, GIS-based analysis and ID model simulations, to make assessment of flood risk for a selected area in the pilot site Trondheim. Subcatchments of higher and lower development areas are selected to demonstrate the need for data (both types and quality) and methods to perform the analyses. Impacts and dependency of urban drainage system on other infrastructures will be an integrated part of case studies. Consequences of flooding will be evaluated based on the developed assessment and modelling simulations. Sustainable solutions of adaptation and mitigation will be sought based on the risk assessment and simulations.

For more information or to download a factsheet please visit: http://www.floodprobe.eu/trondheim.asp

FloodProBE: Orleans Pilot Site

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In Brief

On one hand, networks affect the well-being of the people and the smooth functioning of services and, more generally, of economical activities. Even if Agglo of Orleans is focusing on vulnerability assessment, methods and tools to assess it are very poor actually, especially concerning network vulnerability.

On the other hand, River Loire is surrounded by old dikes that have to be assessed in term of performance. In the same time, dike managers need to prioritize their actions in a context of security increase, annual budget limits and poorly documented levee.

For these reasons, Agglo of Orleans is developing a holistic approach for vulnerability assessment:

Identifying vulnerable dike sections (upstream and downstream Orleans) using efficient methods
Identifying the most critical points of their different networks (electricity, road, drinking water, sanitation...)
Taking into account both dikes vulnerability and networks vulnerability in order to assess urban vulnerability

Thanks to this work, it is possible to establish efficient flood risk management concerning the protection of critical urban spots and then to improve teh capacity of a city to recover from disturbances.

This work will be implemented in collaboration with the DREAL centre which managed the dikes surrounding the river Loire.

Goals/strategies/tools to be applied

The following G/S/T are being applied within the FloodProBE Orleans pilot:

Agglo of Orleans is looking for assessment methodology of dikes performance. Thus, identification and assessment of structure transition will be tested and validated on Loire levees in Orléans
Agglo of Orleans is also looking for accurate geographical knowledge of their dikes. Thus, LIDAR mapping of Loire levees (upstream to downstream of Orléans) and geophysical methods will be achieved in FloodProBE project.
In order to assess networks vulnerability, Agglo of Orleans is a partner in the development of a specific GIS tool. The objective is to develop a methodology for producing interdependent networks disturbance scenarios in order to indentify the most critical components. Software is currently under development to take advantage of this methodology. This software is the first step toward a GIS tool taking into account of network interdependencies and allowing geolocation of critical components.
The combination of dike vulnerability assessment and networks vulnerability identification is an interesting perspective for the Orleans pilot.

SMARTeST International Conference - Call For Abstracts

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Call For Abstracts

The SMARTeST International Conference, due to be held in Athens, September 2012, currently has a call for abstracts.

You must register for the conference and then submit your abstracts no later than 20/2/2012 and there is no delegate fee to attend this conference.

Registration and submission of abstracts must be done via the website - http://floodresilience.eu/conference and all queries should be directed to Niki Evelpidou at NKUA - evelpidou@geol.uoa.gr

FloodProBE: Prague Pilot Site

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In Brief

Main relevance of Prague to FloodProBE project tasks:

Geophysical methods for assessing urban flood defences and focus on forecast reliability (Task 3.2)
Concepts and technologies for multifunctional flood defences (Task 4.1)
Dissemination of the best practices - use of demountables (Task 6.2).

Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic with about 1.5 million inhabitants. It is located at the river Vltava (Moldava). In 2002, Prague received significant damage from what were deemed to be the worst floods to hit the capital in 200 years.There are several kinds of local flood protection measures in Prague including lines of mobile barriers, which are used uniformly on the entire area of Prague, primarily in the historic urban centre. The total length of these mobile barriers is about 7 km in Prague. The dam bar system was created by the firm Eko-System.

Relevance to Task 3.2: In Prague, the geophysical methods can be applied to monitor the disturbances of protective structures (their routine maintenance), and also to diagnose damage after extensive floods.
In application of the geophysical methods in the towns, it has to be kept in mind that the use of certain methods is limited by frequent occurrence of underground distribution systems, building foundations, by the existence of stray electric currents and high level of vibrations caused by traffic. In maintenance of protective flood control structures, complex of the following methods is mostly applied:

geological radar GPR,
resistivity tomography,
seismic methods, seismic tomography,
microgravimetry.

Relevance to Task 4.1: During the design and construction phase of the Prague Flood Defence System, some riverside areas were in the private property with intention to build dwelling houses. As these houses were designed in the flooded area, and to allow the owner his plans the houses were designed to be flood-proof to the anticipated water level and therefore they became a stabile part of the whole system of demountable barriers.

Goals/strategies/tools to be applied

The following G/S/T are being applied within the FloodProBE Prague pilot:

Method for assessing homogenity of urban flood defences (Geophysical Monitoring System - GMS).
Technologies and design for multifunctional flood defences – demountable barriers, flood-proof buildings.

Why we would like to transfer the geophysical experiences from Prague pilot site?

Water level fluctuation and water flows during the floods affect the geological setting in the vicinity of bridge and tunnel foundations, thus impacting service life of the entire structure. Disturbances in the underlying layers may come out in the form of defects in the statics and changed behaviour of the entire structure. This can be registered through the monitoring of bridge structure vibrations. In addition to visible damage to the structures and their furnishing directly caused by water, disturbances of geological underlying layers (occurrence of cavities, degradation of soils by washing out fine-grained particles, contamination of subsoil, etc.) often occur. Such damage is not immediately visible, the detection and rectification thereof may take even several years after the flood. The total level of damage caused by disturbances of geological underlying layers may finally be even higher than direct damage caused by flooding of the structures.

Figure 1 – A Riverside Ramp Výton – the profiles of the GMS measurements

FloodProBE Pilot Sites - An Introduction

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Over the next 2 months we will be publishing a number of articles relating to our pilot site projects. Each week a new pilot site will be presented through our news pages with a monthly summary newsletter being sent to all subscribed members. More information about pilot sites and why they are useful for the FloodProBE project, can be found below in this introduction article.

The FloodProBE research programme includes seven pilot studies which have been established across Europe. These include locations in Orleans (France), Prague (Czech Republic), Hull/Humber & Gloucester (UK), Trondheim (Norway) and Dordrecht and Rotterdam (Netherlands).

Each of the pilot sites represents flood risk areas with specific local problems and issues that are relevant to the research programme within FloodProBE and hence are used interactively within the project. Working with pilot sites in this way helps to ensure that the FloodProBE research programme remains focussed on real problems and issues; at the same time the research can directly help to solve some of the local issues at the pilot sites.

The focus of work at each pilot site, and in some cases the sites themselves, have changed and evolved as the project has progressed. This is part of the process of ensuring that the research addresses the real needs at the site, and the site needs fit with the overall goals of the research.

The seven pilot sites, each with a different focus, now comprise:

Prague (Czech Republic):Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic with about 1.5 million inhabitants located across the river Vltava (Moldava). In 2002, Prague suffered significant damage from the worst floods to hit the city in 200 years. Subsequently, several kinds of local flood protection measures in Prague including lines of mobile barriers, which are used uniformly on the entire area of Prague, primarily in the historic urban centre. The total length of these mobile barriers is about 7 km in Prague. The dam bar system was created by the firm Eko-System and was finished only 5 months before the flood in 2002. If a flood is announced in time, appropriate precautions can be taken. There is planned every year training for the correct installation of the mobile barriers in case of a flood.
Orleans (France): The City of Orleans sits adjacent to the River Loire. Due to the extent of the Loire flood plain the city has established Flood Risk Management as one of its top priorities. Today, Orleans is committed to reducing its vulnerability to flooding by taking new adaptive approaches to sustainable flood risk management and flood risk management planning. This has included information campaigns to raise awareness on flood risk. The City is also putting in place rescue and recovery plans for the population and public services. The aim is to minimise potential flood damage and to enable the City to recover as quickly as possible after a flood event.
Trondheim (Norway):Trondheim Municipality is situated in central Norway on the Trondheim Fjord, 70 km away from the open sea, in Trøndelag County. Periods a heavy rainfall can have disastrous consequences for the city with flooding from any or each of the River Nidelva, the sea (Trondheim fjord) and the urban drainage system. A three-stage approach comprising a risk and vulnerability assessment, GIS-based analysis and ID model simulations, is being undertaken to assess flood risk for a selected area within Trondheim.
Dordrecht (Netherlands):The City of Dordrecht is developing a Multi Level Safety approach to new developments. This includes both flood protection measures (e.g. overflowable defences) and prevention / preparedness measures such as smart shelters, resilient critical infrastructure and hotspot buildings within a large waterfront development area.
Rotterdam (Netherlands):Rotterdam-The Hague Airport could be transformed to be the world's first Emergency Airport as a part of a Multi Level Safety approach in the Netherlands. The airport site sits just above extreme flood levels within the polder. Secondary flood risk prevention and preparedness measures form part of an integrated development plan for the airport.
Hull / Humber (UK):The Humber estuary is very dynamic with a tidal range of up to six metres near the mouth. The foreshores are eroding and threatening flood defences in places, particularly along the Immingham frontage, near Winteringham and in the tributary rivers where regular works are needed to protect the banks. Research into the performance of flood embankments relating to processes such as internal erosion, structure transitions and the performance of grass cover are relevant here.
Gloucester (UK):In the summer of 2007 Gloucestershire suffered one of the worst emergencies ever seen in the county due to extensive flooding from both surface water overloading the drainage systems and very high water levels in main rivers and brooks. On 20th July, two months' rain fell in just 14 hours resulting in two emergencies-widespread flooding and drinking water shortages affecting 350,000 people. Electricity supply networks were also threatened. It is estimated that the flooding and water crisis cost the county of Gloucestershire £50 million. The Gloucester study is now included in the project as a case study.

It should be recognised that no single pilot study links with the entire project research programme, in the same way that no one location would typically suffer from all flood risk issues (including both flood defence and urban resilience). Each pilot focuses upon different aspects of the FloodProBe research.

Urban Resilience Conference, Paris, 3-4 November 2011

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Damien Serre, working within Work Package 2 of the FloodProBE project, is co-organising a conference titled "How the concept of resilience is able to improve urban risk management? A temporal and spatial analysis", to be held in Paris on November 3rd - 4th 2011. Participating in the event will be Work Package 4 leader Chris Zevenbergen and also Rutger de Graaf also contributing in Work Package 4 of the FloodProBE project. A summary of the event can be found below.

Designing the territory adaptation capacities against natural risks has become an essential issue. Building adapted urban networks and cities that will face risk events induces to think this adaptation in a long term perspective. This adaptation capacity has to be done taking into account the spatial shapes of the specific environments, in particular the urban configurations, including the urban infrastructures and buildings, the urban shapes and future developments, and the social issues to plan the urban resilience.

This conference aims at making a research state of the art leading to the conception of antagonist issues: flooded cities - resilient cities, turning the negative effects of flood in a positive one allowing designing cities able to integrate flooding in their shapes and functions.

For more information, including a detailed programme and key dates please email Damien at damien.serre@eivp-paris.fr. You can register for the conference by emailing Estelle Deluca estelle.deluca@univ-mlv.fr

Media Coverage

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

As the FloodPRoBE project heads towards the completion of its 2nd year, news articles have been appearing across other media outlets promoting the work being carried out.

The DREAL Centre in France has added an article, in French, to their website, overviewing the work that is being carried out by the project. To view the article please click here. The DREAL Centre are involved in Work Package 3 which is led by Paul Royet of CEMAGREF.

FloodProBE has also appeared on the Flood Resilience Group website providing a summary of the 2nd stakeholder workshop that took place in Trondheim recently. Teh article can currently be found on the home page here. The article was written by Chris Zevenbergen who leads Work Package 4 of this project.

Also in Work Package 4 are project partners, DeltaSync, who were represented at the Trondheim workshop by Rutger de Graaf. A summary of the Workshop event can be found on the DeltaSync home page.

Thanks to Nicolas Auger, Chris Zevenbergen and Rutger de Graaf for submitting the articles to the websites and please let me know if you have seen FloodProBE promoted anywhere else.

FloodProBE: Internal Erosion

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

By the European Working Group on Internal Erosion of Large Dams (ICOLD), internal erosion is defined as "downstream transport of soil particles within an embankment dam or its foundation by seepage flow". The definition is a collective term for several mechanisms including suffosion, contact erosion, backward erosion and concentrated leak erosion. The relevance of the different mechanisms depend on geological conditions. These conditions may vary locally and across countries in Europe.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, backward erosion, or piping, is a dominant type of internal erosion. In January 2011, during a once every 10 year flood, dozens of sand boils were observed (see image). These observations indicate the beginning of failure by backward erosion. It is for that reason, not surprisingly, that in recent years much research has been done on backward erosion. In the Netherlands, this research has resulted in a new mathematical model and a new safety philosophy for backward erosion.

France

In France, suffusion and concentrated leak erosion are much larger problems. Suffusion involves selective erosion of fine particles from the matrix of coarser particles. It occurs when water flows through widely graded materials. Concentrated leakage involves the enlargement of pre-existing cracks or holes (e.g. along pipes in the levee) by detachment of soil particles due to seepage forces. In the Netherlands, little attention is paid to these mechanisms. In recent years, in France, calculation models and testing equipment have been developed for these types of internal erosion.

FloodProBE, Work Package 3

In FloodProBE workpackage 3, an overview of conditions under which the various failure mechanisms of internal erosion occur are being developed. This overview includes an array of significant geotechnical properties and methods to determine these properties in the field as well as the available empirical and physical-based models to assess their probability of occurrence. Furthermore, it describes observations that may indicate the occurrence of a particular mechanism. For the different European countries, the overview can be used to assess the relevance of possible modes of internal erosion.

Author: Han Knoeff

FloodProBE - Second Stakeholder Workshop

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Second Stakeholder Workshop attracted the attention of more than 45 participants from seven European countries and the United States. Associates from municipalities, members from the advisory board and researchers from the FloodProBEproject made their way to Trondheim, Norway in mid of May.

The main purpose of the workshop was the stakeholder involvement which is of main importance for the recent stage of the project. Stakeholders are, in the case of the FloodProBE project, representatives from different municipalities which play a key role in emergency planning and flood prevention in their specific cities. Their experience, knowledge and demands are essential input parameters for the project in order to develop cost effective means for flood protection.

During two days the workshop provided a mixture of technical presentations about preliminary outcomes of the FloodProBE project and presentations given by associates from European municipalities and different pilot locations.

Presentations from Dordrecht, Orleans, Trondheim and, Gloucester drew a clear picture about different types of flood risk. Due to the geographical location and density of population, the municipalities have to cope with different challenges. Some flood events in certain cities are so dramatic that thousands of people have to be evacuated. In other municipalities the worst case scenario foresees "only" flooded basements. However, flooding with larger or smaller consequences is always an issue for municipalities located close to rivers and the sea and the stakeholders are busy finding solutions for flood prevention.

The pilot site presentations and several working sessions provided the FloodProBE-researchers detailed insight into specific flood problems of European cities. The workshop intensified existing cooperation and brought up new connections between researcher and decision makers.

Beside a very comprehensive workshop a visit at SINTEF's Coast and Harbour Research Laboratory stood on the agenda. The visitors got the opportunity to "travel" to the Geiranger Fjord where a large block of stone is moving towards the fjord.

A physical model demonstrated what happens when the rock slides into the fjord. The visitors got the opportunity to guess how big the tsunami will be and how much time it is left until the first wave reaches the cities which are located along the fjord.

During the two days with presentations, work sessions, lab visit, and the conference dinner, in the Lerkendal football stadium, there was plenty of opportunities to build up new relations between researchers, associates and members from the advisory board.

The FloodProBE management was very pleased with the extraordinary stakeholder contribution and the output of the workshop which will bring the project a large step forward. The participants enjoyed their stay in Trondheim and the special experience that it does not get dark in the night.

We are looking forward to the next Stakeholder Workshop next year in Prague.

FloodProBE Goes Social!

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

FloodProBE has been growing a social following with the introduction of a twitter and linkedIn account! We'd like to invite you to join our growing community to keep up to date with all the latest news for this FP7 project. With the website being the central source of information, you may also like to select one of the options below to follow us on the move!

LinkedIn	Twitter	RSS Feed

LinkedIn - Our LinkedIn community is heading towards 50 members, allowing you to communicate and discuss topics with others who have similar interests and expertise to you. With the second stakeholder workshop approaching this provides you with a great opportunity to start your networking now and present questions for discussion.

Twitter - Twitter allows us to provide short updates on the projects progress as well as offering carefully selected news from other flood related tweeters.

RSS Feed - The RSS feed provides a method of viewing the latest news from FloodProBE on the move, at home or at work, without the need to visit the website. There are several RSS feed programmes that you can use either as standalone software or online tools.

News Subscription - If you prefer to recieve the news directly to your inbox, then please make sure you have subscribed via the website for updates. - http://www.floodprobe.eu/subscribe.asp

To be sure you hear all the latest news, make sure you are subscribed to one or more of our social media accounts!

FloodProBE - the first year

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

By the time you read this news-item FloodProBE may have passed its first Birthday.

Work in progress
A lot of activities and actions are ongoing that may not so obvious to many of you but contribute to efficient and effective cooperation amongst the 14 international partners from 7 European countries. However, in the coming period you should receive regular updates using a web-based tool developed by our project partner Samui-Design. This tool enables all partners and registered stakeholders to share information and publish news items.

Activities

In more general over the past period our project website has evolved as a working and communication environment with e.g. a document management system, a progress-reporting tool and which has been filled with technical information on the work packages. With the many organizational aspects linked to the start of an FP7-project now mostly behind us, we will focus more on research outcomes, the external communication and the implementation of results.
After the start on Nov. 1st 2009 the kick-off meeting brought almost 40 people to Oxford in early January despite snow-conditions not seen for a long time.
In April, we had our first stakeholder workshop with close to 50 participants, this time hampered by the impact of volcanic ash clouds.
The date and venue for the next workshop (17th - 19th of May 2011, Trondheim, Norway) have been set and preliminary activities to ensure a smooth organization are underway.

Research

In terms of research, the work package leaders have together with their team defined research implementation plans to elaborate which activities are specifically undertaken by each of the partners, including when and how they contribute to the strategic aims of the project. The advisory board has reviewed these and made suggestions from a stakeholder point of view. Specific attention has been paid to the links with the pilot projects to ensure that the R&D-activities relate to practice and outcomes can be quickly implemented.
FloodProBE also contributed to a science – policy interfacing workshop organized by the Commission in early July on "Climate Change Impacts and Adaption: Reducing Water-related Risks in Europe".

Historical floods - Hamburg

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Storm and flooding - Hamburg 1962

The 1962 floods in Northern Germany were a natural disaster that resulted in a lot of damage and 340 deaths. On the night of 16-17 February, a storm with wind speeds up to 200 km/hr swept across the North Sea. The resulting storm surge, in combination with increased river discharges from heavy rains, led to a water level rise of more than 3 meters and breach of the flood defences along the rivers Elbe and Weser. In the city of Hamburg, flooding caused direct damage to 6000 buildings in an area of 20 km², mainly in the Wilhelmsburg district, where 315 deaths occurred. Advance storm warnings were only issued via the radio. During the night, large disruptions in communication systems prevented coordinated emergency response actions. But through his personal contacts with NATO and the German armed forces, Helmut Schmidt (who later became Chancellor of Germany), could start the first rescue attempts on the morning of 17 February.

The total damage amounted to € 350 million.

In the city of Bremen, flood defences were damaged, but to a lesser extent and due to early warnings and timely evacuations, only 7 people died.

In both cities, some areas were declared unfit for habitation, based on the flood risks. The event also led to the development of contingency plans as well as improvement of 575 km of flood defences. By 2010, the flood defences must reach a minimum height of 8.50 meters.

In the city of Bremen, flood defences were damaged, but to a lesser extent and due to early warnings and timely evacuations, only 7 people died.

One of the FloodProBE pilot sites - Humberside

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

2007 Flooding

In 2007 large parts of the Humber Eastuary, UK, were flooded. The floods cost homeowners, businesses, emergency services and others some £3.2bn

Strategy

The UK Environment Agency is working on implementing a strategy on the flood risk management in the Humber Estuary. This work already started in 2006. The strategy concerns upgrading and maintaining flood defences, managed realignements and flood storage sites. The programme has been granted a 55 mln pound government. Examples of the strategy's implementation are continuing refurbishment work on the Hull Tidal Barrier and a scheme to protect homes in Swinefleet, near Goole, and Brough. The strategy outlines general flood protection measures, but the specific needs of the protection will be assessed at a local level.

FloodProBE pilot site

Methodologies and technologies that are developed within the project will, where possible, be tested against local pilot conditions. The Humberside Estuary is also one of the FloodProBE pilot locations. Until now the project has tested a method for measuring seepage through the flood defences. This is part of the work package that deals with "the vulnerability of the built environment". It is one step in the process of adding knowledge to the cycle that leads to practical guidance.Insert of "flood protection areas" (Courtesy of the Environment Agency, UK)