In the Netherlands the Hondsbosche and Pettemer sea defences have been
strengthened. Closing this last week link means the coast of North and South
Holland can now withstand storms of the highest category.
The original sea defence consisted of a five and a half kilometer long dyke.
Since the nineteenth century it had already been widened and raised several times
The sea defence was strengthened and safety guaranteed by creating a line of
dunes and a beach in front of the dike, through spray an enormous amount of
sand off the coast of North Holland.
The Netherlands now grew by the equivalentof four hundred soccer fields
This improved safety and created more opportunities for recreation, tourism,
nature and the economy in the area.
the constant challenges is to solve the problem naturally which is what one wants to do.
Because if you out hard high sea walls and they make them higher than you are actually
separating all the people from the sea. But when you choose a solution like this
one here for example widening the sandy coast and making the beach more
attractive, the result is beautifull!
This project is a collaboration between the Government, the Province of North Holland
and Hollands Noorder Kwartier District Waterboard.
Together with local residents, businesses and other stakeholders,
we investigated the best way to strengthen our coast.
As a result, it is now safe behind this seadefence for the next 50 years.