The “De Bovenlanden” location
ProjectPartners
“The IJkdijk” District Waterboard Hunze en Aa’s Aquapark 5 Veendam www.hunzeenaas.nl TNO Information and communicatio Technology Eemsgolaan 3 Groningen www.tno.nl
Contactinformation
STOWA Applied Water Management Research Association Arthur van Schendelstraat 816 Utrecht t l N.V. NOM Investement and development agency for the Northern Netherlands Paterswoldseweg 810 Groningen www.nom.nl Stichting Integrated Development Lab Hoogeveensedijk 4 Dwingeloo www.idl.sensing.com
If you want more information on the IJkdijk, please contact:
Awenyddion VOF De Lemzijde 99 Emmen www.awenyddion.nl
Mr. Evert Blansjaar Tel. (+31)(0)50 521 44 66 E-mail blansjaar@nom.nl
Geo Delft Stieltjesweg 2 Delft www.geodelft.nl
Mr. Nico Pals TNO-ICT GSM (+31)(0)6 22 92 60 05 E-mail n.pals@telecom.tno.nl
RWS / WaterINNovatiebron Kortenaerkade 1 Den Haag www.waterinnovatiebron.nl
“The IJkdijk”
The IJkdijk (Dutch for “Calibration Dike”) is a unique international experimental facility for testing the usability sensor technologies for improving the management, maintenance, and monitoring of water management infrastructures like dikes and levees. The IJkdijk will provide a realistic but controllable testing environment for incorporation and utilization of sensor-based information technology in water management infrastructures. These technologies should improve disaster prevention as well as daily management and maintenance of water management infrastructures.
The Dutch context Dutch water managers are faced with a large task ahead. Climate changes not only cause the sea water level to rise, they also lead to larger peak discharges in river basins. The current water discharge systems do not suffice. In combination with other factors such as subsidence (caused by both natural gas and salt extraction and the autonomous settlement of moorlands) and the ever increasing level of invested capital behind the dikes, this will be a giant challenge to Dutch society which will require a significant investment. The alterations needed to prepare the water system to these changing conditions are in full swing. Water storage areas are being created, rivers are given back their natural flood planes and levees, dikes and seawalls are raised and strengthened. In view of the extremely high costs involved in these large scale alterations as well as their management and maintenance, there is a growing need among water managers for new methods to measure, monitor and control the various parameters in and around dikes and levees more permanently, more objectively and in real-time.
Objective of the IJkdijk facility Currently, the sensor industries and the water managers do not yet share a common language or product reference. This is needed in order to allow innovations in sensor technology to become innovations in dike management,. By creating an an international testing facility, innovators in sensor technologies and dike managers are given the opportunity to assess the true value of these technological innovations in a realistic but controlled environment. Various new technologies will be studied – technologies that, in theory, may contribute to the efficient maintenance of dikes and levees, or that
allow real-time monitoring of water management infrastructures. The interpretation of the monitoring data and their translation to deliberate actions and accurate planning in the short and long term will also play an important role. This will help to prevent future economic catastrophes caused by failure of the water management infrastructures (in the period 1980-2003 floods caused damages of 65 billion US$ in Europe alone).. The IJkdijk can also be used for testing innovative technologies and concepts that will allow better use of the current water management infrastructures. Examples are the use of new numerical models, new concepts for the design of dikes and levees, new concepts for disaster prevention, a concept of floodable dikes, etc. For ideas and technologies of this kind, too, the IJkdijk offers a field testing location where the real value of such concepts can be tested in realistically but controlled conditions.
Sensor technology in processes Currently, sensors (and combinations of sensors) are rarely used in water management information systems. Because of the increasing complexity of water management in densely built deltaic regions, caused by such factors as land subsidence and climate changes, a more accurate and more continuous insight into the (future) functional quality of the water management infrastructures will become increasingly important. In the future, occasional measurements and manual data processing procedures will no longer be sufficient to meet the growing information needs of water managers. In the run-up to the development of complex water management information systems, the start of an international field testing facility for complex multisensor networks is an important step ahead, if not a prerequisite.
Social opportunities In social terms, the project will create opportunities for economic developments in both the Netherlands and in other participating countries. Many densely populated deltaic regions are confronted with similar water management challenges. The Dutch already have an excellent reputation in water management; innovations in this field show a good success rate. Basically, the initiative will stimulate spin-offs in the sensor manufacturing industries via knowledge development and dissemination. In all this, the IJkdijk will permanently serve as a scientifically sound reference that will enable innovative technologies to prove that they have passed functionality and competence tests. Because of the IJkdijk’s location, special attention will be given to creating and enhancing a quality environment in the Northern part of the Netherlands, as laid out in the “Peaks in the Delta” report. The Northern Netherlands already has several strong players in the field – Astron/Lofar, TNO ICT, Leeuwarden Water Institute, University of Groningen, NAM. They also play a major role in this project.