Category: Flood Defences

Levees: an important and visible issue in next ICOLD 2025 congress in Chengdu (China)

Last week during the ICOLD General Assembly in Gothenburg, the questions for the next ICOLD Congress in 2025 in Chengdu (China) were voted. You can see the wording of the four questions, including sub-questions in the following pictures; levees have a large place and great visibility. This is a great success for ICOLD TC LE and …

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An original solution for emergency repair of a breach in a levee. What do you think of it?

Sometimes original solutions are tried to repair a levee in an emergency situation or a breach. Here’s such an example https://www.thedrive.com/news/california-farmers-plunged-their-pickups-into-a-broken-levee-to-stop-a-flood-it-worked Now this raises many comments and questions. I’d like to see yours, please reply to this post.  

Register now for the POLDER2C’s Closing Conference!

We keep the coastal area of Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the UK safe by adapting to climate change  Dear invitee of Polder2C’s, We are delighted to invite you to attend the Polder2C’s Closing Conference, which will be held from the 7th of March until the 9th of March 2023 in Antwerp. We look forward to welcoming you …

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Webinar on emergency repairs of levees – A call for speakers

The ICOLD European working group on levees is organising a webinar on March 16 11:00-13:00 CET to consider the ‘emergency repairs of levees’. We want speakers from across Europe and beyond to share their work on this topic, whether it is emerging research or practical experience during a flood. This important topic will be of …

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results start-up session International Handbook for Flood Emergency Response

On June 27 and 28 2022 we had a start up session for creating an International Handbook for Flood Emergency Response. 33 experts from 10 countries (worlwide) and 20 different organisations shared their thoughts on the goal and content of this handbook. We are aware that many more experts are interested to participate but were …

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Invitation for start-up session International Handbook for Flood Emergency Response

Bart Vonk, a Senior Advisor in Flood Risk Management at Rijkswaterstaat, has sent an invitation to join a start-up meeting for creating an International Handbook for Flood Emergency Response. If you are interested, he has asked to let them know via this registration form , if possible before June 7. Bart provided the following information …

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Working Group Webinar on temporary / mobile / demountable flood defences

The EUCOLD Working Group on Levees and Flood Defences  will organise this year two webinars, after the success of the previous one in 2021 on animal activity on levees. The first one will be held on October 6th, from 11:00 to 13:00 CET, on the topic of temporary, mobile, demountable barriers (or defense structures).  You …

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A webinar based on the ILH on the role of levees in flood risk management

CIRIA is organising a webinar about the role of levees on flood risk management, based on the International Levee handbook. All details can be found on the event web page. Please disseminate the information in your contacts.

Spillways on River Levees

The English translation of a previous French handbook about spillways on river levees is now ready. It can already be pre-ordered as a physical book, and it will be available as an open access ebook from October 1st. More information on : https://www.quae.com/produit/1720/9782759232857/spillways-on-river-levees See also the flyer. 02812_SpillwaysHD 

A new paper on levee investigations is available

Dear collegues My new paper on levee investigations <A new levee control system based on geotechnical and geophysical surveys including active thermal sensing: A case study from Poland > is available next 50 days in Engineering Geology journal for free. link to download    https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1dXbq38lpFrmC Best regards, Krzysztof Radzicki

A first step in trying to understand and document what occurred between July 12th and July 23rd in the Meuse river basin, and the effects on the Netherlands

A first step in trying to understand and document what occurred between July 12th and July 23rd in the Meuse river basin. This was an exceptional weather event. However it was correctly predicted. In Germany in the Eifel region (mainly tributaries to the Rhine) they had 3 months of rainfall in 36 hours and in …

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A new document on “Methods and techniques for reinforcing and repairing protection levees”

A new report has been approved by the CFBR Executive Board, and is published on the French  committee’s website, “Documentation” tab: Methods and techniques for reinforcing and repairing protection levees This is the deliverable of the CFBR “Levees” Working Group. It is made up of two parts: – a first, “General framework”: https://www.barrages-cfbr.eu/IMG/pdf/recueil_confortement_digues_partie_1.pdf – a …

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Webinar on Animal Burrowing (30/6/21) – Final program

The webinar on Animal Burrowing will take place on June 30. 11:00 CET          Welcome 11:05                  1. English perspective on managing badgers in embankments (Paul Arnold, EA) 11:20                  2. Detection of cavities in levees and forelands caused by beavers (Torsten Heyer, TU Dresden; Michael Arndt, Secon Systems) 11:40                  3. Experiences with the beaver …

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A WG webinar on animal activity on levees

We are very pleased to announce the first webinar of the Working Group on Levees and Flood Defences of the European Club of ICOLD, about animal activity on our levees, which will be held June 30th from 11:00 to 12:30 CET. Please email Patrik if you want to attend. He will send you an appointment …

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Special session in the FLOODrisk conference on risk based decision making for levees

During the FLOODrisk 2020 conference (happening in June 2021) , a special session  ‘Risk Informed Decision Making for Levees and Flood Defences’ will take place virtually on Tuesday 22 June 2021 from 13:30 to 15:00. This special session is organised by EUCOLD LFD WG and ICOLD TC members. Special Session: Risk Informed Decision Making for …

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Discovery of ancient levee in the Netherlands

Near the town of Vlaardingen, remnants have been found of an ancient construction that probably served as a low levee. The construction was about 1 metre in height, at least 20 metres long, and consisted of a dual construction consisting of wooden piles and braided willow branches, that was subsequently filled with earth. The levee …

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EGU virtual conference – Submissions deadline January 20th.

I received from a colleague  this information that I wanted to share with you: DO NOT FORGET THAT… Is that time of the year were we get crazy and excited about submitting abstracts for EGU ! Deadline for abstract submission is extended to the 20th of January 2021, 13:00 CET. This 2021 promises an even …

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In situ overflowing experiments at Living Lab Hedwige-Prosperpolder by POLDER2C’s

POLDER2C’s has started with the execution of levee overflow tests near the Dutch-Belgian border. Besides well-maintained levee sections, we aim to test anomalies like presence of a cliff, animal burrows and a tree. https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2020/11/13/dijken-doel/ https://polder2cs.eu/ Patrik Peeters Flanders Hydraulics Research

Presentation of the French version of the ILH

The French association of levee managers France Digues organises a presentation of the French edition of the International Levee Handbook. Because of the COVID19 situation, this event, which was supposed to happen in Paris as a physical meeting, will beheld online so more people will potentially be able to attend. More details here : Programme …

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Building a resilient flood protection system, including to overtopping. Summer 2019: creating openings in an existing railway

History of the project On the left bank of the south of the Rhône river (in France), between the cities of Tarascon and Arles, a railway embankment has performed for many years as a flood protection structure although it was not a role falling under its owner (the French National Railway company) responsibility. In December 2003, …

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ICOLD Meeting 2020 New Delhi

UPDATE (4 March) : the meeting has been postponed due to the Coronavirus epidemic. The new dates are: Sat. 26 Sept. – Th. 01 Oct. 2020. The dates for the WG workshop and meeting are on Sunday 27th and Monday 28th respectively. The 2020 ICOLD meeting will be in New Delhi, India, from 4 to 10 …

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New issue of our LFD WG newsletter

Hello we have  issued a new issue of our Levees and Flood Defences  Working Group  newsletter. You can find it available for download on our website. It concentrates on the different levees related conferences of this year: the ICOLD annual meeting, the ECSMGE conference, and the EUCOLD symposium. It also includes a special feature presenting …

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FLOODrisk2020

  The deadline for submitting abstracts to the next FLOODrisk conference has been extended to the 16th September : https://floodrisk2020.net/news/abstract-submission-deadline-extension/ Levees and Flood Defences are definitely a topic and I encourage every EUCOLD LFD WG and/or ICOLD LE TC to submit an abstract.

Deadline to submit abstracts for EUCOLD symposium

Last days to send an abstract for the 11th ICOLD European Club Symposium. Deadline is Monday 18th February 2019. All topics refer to all dams – large and small, reservoirs, levees and flood defenses. Important Dates Abstracts Submission (300 words max) Monday 18th February 2019 Abstracts Acceptance Friday 15th March 2019 Full Paper Submission (10 pages max) Monday …

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Assessing and managing the risks of transitions in flood defence infrastructure

  Workshop on  “Assessing and managing the risks of transitions in flood defence infrastructure” The Environment Agency has teamed up with international experts to help risk management authorities to consider the risks associated with transitions in flood defence structures. The international consortium, made up of HR Wallingford, Royal HaskoningDHV, Deltares, IRSTEA and USACE, integrates current …

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Artifical rain showers on levees to prevent flooding

While some countries like Japan and some Balkan countries have suffered from severe floods during the spring and early summer of 2018, The Netherlands and England are suffering from severe drought. In both England and The Netherlands, June 2018 ranks along the 6 warmest and driest June months of the last century and has been record …

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Research in the Netherlands for Flood Defenses

May, 24th, 2018 Robert Slomp, Robert.slomp@rws.nl Marcel Bottema, Introduction In the newsletter we have given an abstract of the relevant research for Flood Defenses. The present overview covers the research in somewhat more detail. First some general principles are highlighted: Flood-defense research is polydisciplinary, including several scientific disciplines relating to various loads and strength aspects …

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A new issue of our Newsletter

A new issue of our newsletter is available here : https://lfd-eurcold.inrae.fr/index.php/wg-newsletter/ I want to thank all the editorial team and the contributors. I hope you will find reading it interesting. Don’t hesitate to disseminate it to all your contacts (inside and outside of ICOLD) who are interested in levees and flood defences. Please send us …

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3rd International Conference on Protection against Overtopping 6-8 June 2018, UK

Only a few days left to submit an abstract to this interesting conference (deadline 13 September 2017). See web site http://www.protections2018.org/ for details. Extract from the homepage: The increasing demand for dam, levee and seawall safety and flood protection has motivated new research and advancements and a greater need for cost-effective measures in overtopping protection …

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A new Technical Committe in ICOLD : “Levees”

Dear Colleagues, I am pleased to inform you of the creation of a Technical Committee “Levees” within ICOLD. The General Assembly of ICOLD voted and approved this creation during its meeting last Friday (07/07) in Prague, at the 2017 annual meeting. This excellent news for the international Levees and Flood Defences community is the result …

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Vienna 2018 ICOLD Congress

The next ICOLD Congress (2018) will be held in Vienna (Austria).  As you already know, a question regarding levees has been introduced in the program, and it is of utmost importance to demonstrate at this occasion to the whole dam community that levees is a natural topic linked to its activities. See: http://icoldaustria2018.com/ We strongly encourage our members to …

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Prague 2017 ICOLD Meeting

The next ICOLD Annual Meeting (2017) will be held in Prague (Czech Republic).  Abstracts can be submitted up to September 15th. See: http://www.icold2017.cz/en/call-for-abstracts We strongly encourage our members to present an abstract in relation to levees and flood defences. Please let the group know if you submit such a paper, by sending an email to Marcel Bottema …

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