COMCOAST

COMCOAST
Background
There is no dispute that as global temperatures rise, so do sea levels,
which can pose problems for safety against flooding. At the same
time, as land along much of the North Sea coast is used increasingly intensively it is becoming even more valuable to society. Both
developments indicate that flooding risk will increase in future and
that current solutions to prevent flooding might be inappropriate in
future. Instead, a combination of functions in the coastal defence
zones might work better than traditional flood defences. These are
explored in the ComCoast project.
Flood experts are now looking for alternatives to “single line”
defences. Artificial solutions create problems such as disruption of
sediment movements, but sometimes there are no viable alternatives. Yet in natural coastal areas it is better to give nature a chance.
The priority is no longer to keep the tide out with heightened
“In the past centuries people held on to the principle that only
taller dikes are safer dikes and that safety is synonymous with
dryness. However, in certain cases (recreation or fisheries) an area
should be allowed to become wet more often. What’s more, the area
could even benefit from it, like in the case of nature development.”
Frans Hamer, project manager on a website for the construction
industry, www.cobouw.nl, 7 October 2004.
embankments but to encourage a gradual topographical transition
from land to sea, and promote alternative multifunctional land use
– recreation, fishing and new farming practices.
attractive and better adapted to societal needs. These developments include re-establishing recreation areas or habitats with
wetter, more natural conditions.
vital. Education centres are being set up to inform local communities, allowing them to dip their toes into the technical aspects of
novel flood risk measures.
Aim
There is significant potential for boating, fishing, bird watching,
walking and holiday residency. From Perkpolder, Zeeland, in the
south of the Netherlands to Groningen in the north, and across
the North Sea in Essex, pilot projects will investigate how to adapt
primary coastal defences to accommodate increased wave overtopping, encouraging the ecological system to create a natural defence.
The Future
ComCoast aims to increase the safety of coastal areas, principally
by making water defences stable under all circumstances, even
when water flows over the top of defences. The project ComCoast
explores possibilities for combining different land-uses in the
coastal defence zone. Refined coastal defence strategies will provide a transnational framework for integrated actions in the long
term, to gain knowledge and exchange experience in the North Sea
countries in the field of civil engineering and participatory action.
Activities and Outcomes
As the lead partner says, “Optimal safety once meant dry feet; new
sustainable approaches favour getting a little bit wet”. Changing
mindsets and convincing local populations that removing traditional defences will not leave them at the mercy of the oceans is
What are the future options for farmers whose land may have more
frequent minor flooding? Previously national governments would
buy out inhabitants or pay them to relocate. One cost-saving solution, to be investigated by ComCoast, could be to develop housing
or greenhouses on floating pontoons – perhaps extending the idea
of Amsterdam’s world famous floating flower market to farms on
the other side of the North Sea.
Innovative solutions will reduce risks of flooding by improving
the wave breaking effect on the foreshore or creating salt wetlands.
Whereas traditionally the response to increased flood-risk would
be to strengthen dykes, which would have taken up more land
space, and been cumbersome, expensive and unreliable, ComCoast
supports the use of transition zones. In Essex, UK, for instance the
project will give a new function to the primary embankment that
was abandoned after the construction of dykes almost one hundred
years ago.
Project partners are embarking on a series of excursions to
witness the results of demonstration activities, first hand. As well
as carrying out five pilots schemes on embankments along coasts,
COMCOAST will also make hinterlands or “defence zones” more
Alternative flood defence on a river bank.
Lead Partner contact details
NL
42
Ministry of Transport, Public Works and
Water Management, Directorate General
for Public Works and Water Management
Project manager: Frans Hamer
E-mail: F.C.Hamer@dww.rws.minvenw.nl
Tel. +31 15 2518 442
List of project partners
NL
NL
G
Province of Zeeland
Executive Board of the
Province of Groningen
Carl von Ossietzky Universität
Oldenburg (University of
Oldenburg)
The Breebaart polder is a defence zone where water is allowed in between two dikes, the Netherlands.
UK
B
DK
NL
NL
NL
Environment Agency
Ministerie van de Vlaamse
Gemeenschap
Ministry of Traffic
Gemeente Hulst
Waterschap Zeeuwse Eilanden
Waterschap Zeeuws Vlaanderen
Financial facts
Start date: 27 February 2004
End date: 31 December 2007
ERDF: € 2,887,769
Total eligible sum: € 5,775,538
COMbined Functions in COASTal Defence Zones
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