The Dutch Hondsbossche and Pettemer sea defence no longer met the Netherlands’ official flood safety standards. To protect the coastline against a ‘superstorm’ – a violent storm that occurs once every 10,000 years – a natural barrier of sand has been created on the seaward side, based on the Building with Nature principle. A Van Oord consortium was contracted to create the broad dunes and beaches along the Hondsbossche and Pettemer seawall.
To limit the inconvenience to the local community and combat sand drift, we used traditional, natural materials to keep the sand in place. We added pulped paper during dune construction, planted approximately 640,000 square metres of Marram grass, and installed kilometres-long willow twig sand screens. We completed the coastal reinforcement project in 2016. The Van Oord consortium is also responsible for maintaining this unique piece of Dutch coastline until 2036.
Building with Nature
A fine example of our Marine ingenuity is the Hondsbossche and Pettemer Sea Defence project. Learn more about how our innovative project design combines the useful and the pleasant: a safe coastline with room for nature conservation and leisure activities.
How do you protect the coastline against storms and flooding? Van Oord’s Dutch roots have made us an expert on coastal protection.
Building with nature
Pettemer
Hondsbossche
Sea Defence
and
The
The Dutch Hondsbossche and Pettemer sea defence no longer met the Netherlands’ official flood safety standards. To protect the coastline against a ‘superstorm’ – a violent storm that occurs once every 10,000 years – a natural barrier of sand has been created on the seaward side, based on the Building with Nature principle. A Van Oord consortium was contracted to create the broad dunes and beaches along the Hondsbossche and Pettemer seawall.
To limit the inconvenience to the local community and combat sand drift, we used traditional, natural materials to keep the sand in place. We added pulped paper during dune construction, planted approximately 640,000 square metres of Marram grass, and installed kilometres-long willow twig sand screens. We completed the coastal reinforcement project in 2016. The Van Oord consortium is also responsible for maintaining this unique piece of Dutch coastline until 2036.
Building with Nature
A fine example of our Marine ingenuity is the Hondsbossche and Pettemer Sea Defence project. Learn more about how our innovative project design combines the useful and the pleasant: a safe coastline with room for nature conservation and leisure activities.
How do you protect the coastline against storms and flooding? Van Oord’s Dutch roots have made us an expert on coastal protection.
Building with nature
Pettemer
Hondsbossche
Sea Defence
and
The