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Story overview
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.
CoCliCo: a digital leap forward in coastal safety
Applying new technologies
Imagine being able to instantly see which coastal areas in Europe are most vulnerable to flooding. And imagine if policymakers, urban planners and insurers could use that information right away to make smarter decisions. That’s exactly what CoCliCo enables: an open-source web platform that provides clear insights into current and future coastal risks—from sea level rise to storm surges and erosion.
Disaster risk reduction in practice: field-based experiences from experts
Meet our people
Today, on International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, we reflect on the urgent call to shift from reactive responses to proactive resilience. The theme for 2025: “Fund resilience, not disasters” resonates with our work at Deltares. But what does disaster risk reduction look like in practice? We asked several Deltares colleagues to share their experiences from the field, revealing the human side of disaster risk reduction and the science behind it.
Faster computational models, smarter decisions
Applying new technologies
In a world where climate change, water safety, and sustainable infrastructure are becoming increasingly urgent, swift action is essential. But how can we make rapid decisions when reliant on complex computational models that may take hours, days, or even weeks to process? Deltares is investing in model reduction – an innovative technique that enables us to tackle societal challenges both faster and more intelligently.
My work is relevant to the major challenges in this world
Meet our people
Every day at Deltares we work on solutions to complex societal challenges. The digital facilities at Deltares play an indispensable role in our mission. We develop software and data products that make our knowledge accessible and impactful in practice - from flood forecasting to smart monitoring of flood defences such as the Maeslant Barrier. Matthijs Huisman is a DevOps engineer and scrum master at Deltares. What inspires him about working here? We asked Matthijs: “What drives you?”
Anthropogenic substances under scrutiny
Background
What happens to substances that do not naturally belong in our environment? That question has fascinated Rianne van den Meiracker since she was a child. She is now a researcher at Deltares specialising in anthropogenic substances in groundwater and surface water, working daily to unravel the pathways, effects and solutions for these substances in water and soil.
