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Story overview
New knowledge for old engineering structures
Interview
“We’re facing a monstrous task”, says Joost Breedeveld, researcher resilient infrastructure at Deltares. “In forthcoming years, more and more bridges, sluices, weirs, pumping stations and other sections of the waterways will reach the end of their lifespan, in any event, on paper.” Joost and his fellow experts Dick ten Hove from MARIN and Ad van 't Zelfde from TNO are developing a knowledge base with tools to assist administrators such as Rijkswaterstaat. This will give them an overview of the maintenance tasks for wet engineering structures and a perspective for action.
Healthy water, healthy people: how Deltares builds knowledge for a safer future
Background
Pressure on water quality and health is increasing. Climate change, pollution and other challenges are creating new health risks in water. Within its Water, Soil & Health expertise area, Deltares is working on projects such as BlueAdapt, TULIP and MOMENTUM, developing knowledge, models and practical tools to support water managers and policymakers in taking timely and effective action.
I use my ICT expertise to enable our researchers to do their work
Meet our people
Without reliable systems, advanced software and secure data infrastructure, our researchers simply couldn’t do their work. The ICT team at Deltares provides the essential building blocks: from high-performance computing for numerical simulations to data platforms that uphold FAIR principles and enable collaboration across disciplines. This gives our experts access to the data and computing power they need to develop solutions for urgent societal challenges. Leroy van Logchem is a Systems Architect. What drives him in his work at Deltares? We asked Leroy: “What drives you?”.
How we uncover the mysteries of expansive soils
Background
Tens of thousands of homeowners living on expansive clay soil are at risk of foundation damage. This clay swells when it rains and shrinks considerably during droughts, causing serious damage to houses and foundations. By investigating the properties of this clay and mapping the locations, Deltares is laying the foundation for a risk assessment system.
Safe transport of waste water
Background
One of our most important pieces of infrastructure lies underground: without a sewer system, there can be no healthy living environment! Most sewer systems were built fifty years ago and are in urgent need of renewal, especially now extreme rainfall is becoming more common. During the replacement of the Riool Zuid sewer system near Eindhoven, Deltares' expertise was used to test the capacity of a temporary system, enabling water authority De Dommel to work safely on a future-proof sewer system.
Connecting and improving: towards a more stable railway
Interview
ProRail wants to use the existing railway as efficiently as possible and run more, faster and heavier trains. However, the soft Dutch subsoil causes subsidence in some places. And now that houses are being built closer and closer to the railway, vibration nuisance must be prevented. In a multi-year collaboration, ProRail and Deltares are tackling these challenges to gain insight into the problems and solutions.
PFAS in the greenhouse at a research institute
Anyone who walks in the direction of the Delta Flume on the Deltares campus will see a glass greenhouse. That’s not particularly unusual in the Westland area. But at a research institute? Sunflowers are growing in the greenhouse as part of an experiment looking at how vegetation can clean the soil. What’s the story? We ask Tom Bosma, one of the project leaders.
AI is reshaping the world of water
Applying new technologies
For years, water managers have relied on complex numerical models to predict water levels and soil behaviour. But artificial intelligence is changing the game. Hanneke van der Klis, strategic advisor at Deltares, explains: “We’ve built incredibly sophisticated numerical models that use mathematics to describe how water moves and how the ground behaves. But now, machine learning techniques are stepping in, they can calculate at lightning speed, using trusted simulations as their foundation.”
Knowledge about cold water risks in aquathermal energy
Background
Aquathermal energy, heat extraction from surface water, can heat almost half of all homes in the Netherlands. In order to scale up aquathermal energy and accelerate the energy transition, more knowledge is needed, for example about the consequences of cold water discharges in nature. That is why Deltares, together with Rijkswaterstaat, STOWA and Waternet, is investigating how such cold water discharges spread.
How shared knowledge keeps our coast and Wadden Sea safe and sustainable
How can we keep the Dutch coast and Wadden Sea sustainable and safe? Two valuable knowledge products together provide a unique overview of decades of coastal management: the Coastal Management Libraries and the Wadden Basin Reports. They combine insights from research and practice, forming a solid foundation for future management, policy, and research.
Smarter rainfall forecasting with Artificial Intelligence
Applying new technologies
Extreme rainfall and urban flooding are becoming increasingly common — not only in the Netherlands, but across the globe. Climate change is intensifying downpours, accelerating runoff, and heightening flood risks in cities and vulnerable regions. So how can we better prepare? Ruben Imhoff, researcher at Deltares, is exploring innovative ways to improve rainfall forecasting using artificial intelligence (AI). His work sits at the intersection of meteorology, hydrology, and data science.
Involved from start to finish
Background
Just before the commissioning of de Nieuwe Sluis in Terneuzen, researchers from Deltares cross the lock chamber in a small boat. On the hottest day of the year, with temperatures reaching 38 degrees Celsius, Arne van der Hout and Jelle Molenaar remove the forty measuring instruments that have been measuring the density of the water for a month and a half. Not long after, the first ships pass through the lock.
