Rising Land is a strategy that seeks sustainable solutions to salinity, and coastal security in the Wadden Sea region.
The Wadden coast has a long history of reclaiming land. For over a 1,000 years, high tidal marshes have been diked in for agricultural use. Because of land subsidence and the current sea level rise, these polders are now below sea level, the oldest ones even two meters below. Consequently, it has become increasingly difficult for the districts water boards to keep these areas dry and filled with fresh water. But that is not the only problem with those low polders. In the event of a dike burst, the polders below sea level would suffer harder. During the North Sea Flood of 1953 e.g. there was a distinct difference in the number of casualties between high and low polders.
Rising Land tries to look for sustainable solutions for salinization, so that the coast becomes a safer place again. Its strategy is to silt up the low polders naturally, under the influence of tidal dynamics, so that they end up above the average high water mark. During this process, spectacular landscapes will appear in rapid succession, in a relatively short period of time (75-100 years). Every 25 years, this process will be instigated on a different location along the coast line. This means that one can experience all the stages of the Wadden Sea – from mud flats over trenches to tidal marshes – during the period of one lifetime.
The oldest and deepest Dollard-polder serves as a pilot. Because of a surplus of silt in the waters of the Eems-Dollard estuary, the estuary suffers from ecological problems. To solve this, the silt is being used to raise the polder, so that dredging in the estuary can be reduced. That has its positive effects on the limpidity of water and the biological production, which serve as a basis of the ecosystem.
- English Title : Sedimentation Strategy for the Wadden Sea Region
- University : Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, NL
- Project was done for Course Unit : Graduation ( Graduation )
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- Notes : Tutors: Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze, Paul Achterberg and Sander Lap
- Weblink : http://www.ahk.nl/bouwkunst/lichting/2012/student/jorryt-braaksma/
- Academic Year : 2011 / 12
- City : Amsterdam
- Project Language : Dutch
- Location of project : Netherlands
- Image Title : Rising Land
- Image Desc : Rising Land