Netherlands considering building artificial islands for coastal protection
February 20, 2008
By
Canadian Consulting Engineer
The Dutch are looking at ways of protecting their coastline from rising ocean levels, and one approach under consid...
The Dutch are looking at ways of protecting their coastline from rising ocean levels, and one approach under consideration is to build an artificial island, similar to the ones built off the coast of Dubai. in the Persian Gulf.
The Netherlands is very flat country, lying next to the North Sea, with about a quarter of its land lying below sea level. Over the years it has developed expertise in dikes and coastal protection, and has some of the world’s largest dredger companies.
Van Oord, for example, was hired to create islands in the shape of the world’s continents off the coast of Dubai, a project that used 320 million cubic metres of sand — enough to build a 4-metre high sand wall around the world.
One of the coast protection measures being considered for the Netherlands would see an artificial island constructed in the shape of a massive tulip, the national emblem. The island could be used for sports, housing, agriculture or a nature reserve.
