scholarly journals On the use of flexible spillways to control the discharge ratio of the Rhine in the Netherlands: hydraulic and morphological observations

2007 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.M.J Schielen ◽  
P. Jesse ◽  
L.J. Botwidt
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
River Rhine ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
Bifurcation Points ◽  
Discharge Ratio ◽  
Strong Erosion ◽  
Discharge Distribution ◽  
Hydraulic Processes

AbstractShortly after the river Rhine enters the Netherlands, it bifurcates into three branches. A predefined, fixed discharge distribution over the bifurcation points is vital, since the dikes are designed with a predefined distribution in mind. Recent observations show that the discharge distribution that is anticipated at design discharge conditions differs from the predefined one. One of the goals of the national program Room for the River is therefore to restore the discharge distribution. To control the hydraulic processes during flood events, the construction of two adaptable spillways in the direct neighbourhood of the bifurcation points is proposed as a possible solution. The spillways are capable of maintaining the proper discharge distribution. They can also act as regulators during the construction phase of the flood managements plans of the project Room for the River. Hence, the discharge ratio and thus the water levels are such that the safety-standards are not violated. The morphological consequences are most probably very small, provided that strong erosion during flood events can be prevented and the autonomous bed degradation stays within reasonable limits.

Storage reservoirs – a first barrier for pathogenic micro-organisms in the Netherlands

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lambert W. C. A. van Breemen ◽  
Henk A. M. Ketelaars ◽  
Wim Hoogenboezem ◽  
Gertjan Medema
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Agricultural Waste ◽  
Quality Criteria ◽  
River Rhine ◽  
Total Production ◽  
River Meuse ◽  
Storage Reservoirs ◽  
Microbiological Water Quality ◽  
Micro Organisms

Production of drinking water from river water, abstracted either directly from river or from storage reservoirs, requires the application of barriers for pathogenic micro-organisms. About one third of the total production of drinking water in the Netherlands is derived from surface water, mainly the River Meuse and branches of the River Rhine. The results of extensive monitoring programmes show that the microbiological water quality of the River Rhine and River Meuse is strongly influenced by domestic and agricultural waste water discharges, with respect to the River Meuse mainly in the Liège-region in Belgium. Densities of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in both rivers are comparable; the highest density was found in the Belgian Meuse basin. Elimination rates of 1.7- to 3.1 10log-units for pathogenic micro-organisms were found in Dutch storage reservoirs, which can thus be considered as an important first barrier for pathogenic microorganisms. The elimination capacity of reservoirs is influenced by retention time and contamination by waterfowl. To meet the proposed quality criteria for pathogens in drinking water, however, additional barriers are required.

Form Follows Experience - Notes on the Functionality of Footbridges

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Schreinemachers ◽  
Wiebe Strick
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Highway Bridge ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Pedestrian Bridges ◽  
The City ◽  
Prime Location ◽  
Natural Way

<p>Should a bridge always be functional and accessible? Should it always fulfil its purpose? This seemingly self- evident question is a key question in footbridge design that is oriented towards creating experiences.</p><p>Footbridges are able to successfully enriches our experience of a certain context or landscape, it cannot be functional all the time, under all environmental conditions, weather and seasons. A good example is the Zalige bridge designed as part of the Room for the River, a large-scale national program for inland flood- protection in the Netherlands. Build upon the floodplains within a newly created river-park by the city of Nijmegen, the Zalige bridge’s curved shape stands in direct relationship to the fluctuating water levels of the river. When water levels rise, the bridge partially submerges, becoming only accessible through steppingstones. At peak heights, the bridge disappears completely, becoming a metaphor for our relationship to the water.</p><p>“Building a bridge that fails to fulfil its sole purpose of containing the water; this can only be pulled off in the Netherlands.” – jury Dutch Design Awards about the Zalige bridge.</p><p>The loss of functionality is directly related to the creation of an experience. When the water levels rose in January 2018, the bridge became the prime location to experience the changing landscape. It shows that engineering a bridge is not solely focussed on the most efficient engineering, but for the purpose it fulfils as for society. For most pedestrian bridges where the perception of the user is on a different level as for a highway bridge, functionality provides more than just cost driven or efficiency driven parameters. It is more related to the added value for the community. When design not solemnly derives from the sheer taste and predilection of the designer but is based on the user’s experience, it generates a durable relation with a feeling of ownership of its users. The key is to create this experience in an elegant and natural way and not forced or dictated. It should be people's own unique discovery and should not be imposed.</p>

Spatial analysis of riverine microplastic in a Rhine floodplain soil in Germany

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Rolf ◽  
Martin G. J. Löder ◽  
Hannes Laermanns ◽  
Lukas Kienzler ◽  
Florian Steininger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Analysis ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Digital Terrain Model ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Rhine River ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Floodplain Soil ◽  
Terrain Model ◽  
Flooded Area ◽  
Alluvial Floodplains

&lt;p&gt;The Rhine River flows through six European countries and is in exchange with diverse land use forms and human activities that potentially release microplastics (MPs). The Rhine interacts permanently with its surrounding banks and floodplains by changing water-levels. Several studies have documented the presence of MPs in the Rhine along its course as well as in its tributaries. However, the spatial distribution of MPs due to certain flood events in alluvial floodplains remains widely unclear. The knowledge about the amount and distribution of MPs and on their potential entry pathways into Rhine floodplains is essentially important for an ecological risk assessment. In this study, we analysed the amount and distribution of MPs in a floodplain soil in the nature reserve Merkenich-Langel, in the northern periphery of Cologne (Germany). We hypothesize that MPs are transported by the Rhine and are deposited at the site during flood events. For spatial analysis we used the MIKE software (DHI A/S, H&amp;#248;rsholm Denmark) merged with a digital terrain model of the study site to analyse past flood events and their potential deposition of MP. We chose three sampling transects located within the past flooded area each with three sampling spots with increasing distance and elevation to the river. Samples were taken from two different soil depths (0&amp;#8211;5 cm and 5&amp;#8211;20 cm) and the samples of the three sampling spots and same depth were combined to one mixed soil sample per transect. MP concentrations were analysed via ATR-FTIR and &amp;#181;-FPA-FTIR spectroscopy after density separation and enzymatic-oxidative purification. We found an increase of MP concentration per kg of dry soil in the depth 5&amp;#8211;20 cm with increasing distance to the river ranging from 25.612 particles/kg to 85.076 particles/kg. The results of MP concentration in 0&amp;#8211;5 cm topsoil layer will be compared to the concentration in the soil depth of 5&amp;#8211;20 cm. We correlate these results to the frequency of flood events.&lt;/p&gt;

De Romeinse Limes in Nederland

Lampas ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-123
Author(s):  
Stephan Mols ◽  
Rien Polak
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
External Boundary ◽  
River Rhine ◽  
Left Bank ◽  
History Of ◽  
Frontier Zone ◽  
Organic Remains

Summary For more than five hundred years the southern part of the Netherlands belonged to the Roman Empire, more particularly to the province of Germania inferior (Lower Germany). The left bank of the river Rhine served as the external boundary of this province, once the ambition to annex the Germanic territories across the river had been abandoned. Although the Lower German Limes is only a modest part of the whole frontier system of the Roman Empire, it can boast of various distinctive characteristics, the most important of which is the outstanding preservation of timber buildings, ships and other organic remains in the water-logged conditions of the Rhine delta. This paper presents a brief history of this frontier section and addresses a few general issues, as an introduction to a series of papers discussing a variety of aspects of the frontier and of life in a frontier zone.

scholarly journals Feedback Mechanism in Bifurcating River Systems: the Effect on Water-Level Sensitivity

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1915
Author(s):  
Matthijs R.A. Gensen ◽  
Jord J. Warmink ◽  
Fredrik Huthoff ◽  
Suzanne J.M.H. Hulscher
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
River System ◽  
Feedback Mechanism ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
River Systems ◽  
Water Level Variations ◽  
System Water ◽  
Discharge Distribution ◽  
Single Branch

Accurate and reliable estimates of water levels are essential to assess flood risk in river systems. In current practice, uncertainties involved and the sensitivity of water levels to these uncertainties are studied in single-branch rivers, while many rivers in deltas consist of multiple distributaries. In a bifurcating river, a feedback mechanism exists between the downstream water levels and the discharge distribution at the bifurcation. This paper aims to quantify the sensitivity of water levels to main channel roughness in a bifurcating river system. Water levels are modelled for various roughness scenarios under a wide range of discharge conditions using a one-dimensional hydraulic model. The results show that the feedback mechanism reduces the sensitivity of water levels to local changes of roughness in comparison to the single-branch river. However, in the smaller branches of the system, water-level variations induced by the changes in discharge distribution can exceed the water-level variations of the single-branch river. Therefore, water levels throughout the entire system are dominated by the conditions in the largest branch. As the feedback mechanism is important, the river system should be considered as one interconnected system in river maintenance of rivers, flood-risk analyses, and future planning of river engineering works.

Gravel-Pit Lakes Connected with the River Rhine as a Reserve for High Productivity of Plankton and Young Fish

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Neumann ◽  
Chr Seidenberg-Busse ◽  
A. Petermeier ◽  
St Staas ◽  
F. Molls ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flood Plain ◽  
River Rhine ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Eutrophic Lakes ◽  
Field Station ◽  
High Productivity ◽  
Sand And Gravel ◽  
The University ◽  
Lentic Waters ◽  
Lower Rhine

During the last two decades an increasing number of sand and gravel-pits were established in the original flood plain of the River Rhine. Some of these are connected with the stream by a small canal for the transport of the spoil. Some of these dredged lakes have been studied during recent years at the ecological field station of the University of Köln, with regard to seasonal phytoplankton succession, productivity of copepods and cladocerans, occurrence of macrozoobenthos, and both spawning and recruitment of fish populations. These eutrophic lakes represent a valuable substitute biotope for lost lentic waters of the former flood plain. They offer via the canal connection an advantageous habitat to resident fish species of the Lower Rhine, (1) for reproduction and growth of the 0+-generation, and (2) for shelter during flood events. Recommendations for reclamation plans of such lakes are required.

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