New sites monitored by UrbanFlood
8 August 2011
The new sites monitored by UrbanFlood are:
- A bridge at Almere,
The Netherlands
- De Vechtdijk, The Netherlands
Follow this link to see the first GeoBeads data Boston UK
The sites already monitored by UrbanFlood are:
- Eemshaven, The Netherlands
- Boston United Kingdom
- Stammerdijk
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Vechtdijk
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Dike next to Zeelandbrug,
The Netherlands
- Brisbane, Queensland,
Australia
Practice research ‘Dijken op Veen’ (peat dikes) starts soon
4 July 2011
Soon the practical
test and study ‘Dijken op Veen’ (peat dikes) will start, a collaboration
between the Hoogheemraadschap (water board) Hollandsch Noorderkwartier and
Rijkswaterstaat (Ministry of Infrastucture and the Environment).
With this
research, we can increase our knowledge about the strength of embankments on
peat.
2nd UrbanFlood Workshop
15 June 2011
The workshop we have
held in November 2010 has attracted many companies. Together with a Czech SMW
we now have developed a Eureka
project, and with a large Dutch company we develop an ESA project. In November
2011 we will organize our second International Workshop. We really would like
to encourage all companies and institutes working in this field to come and
discuss cooperation.
“Intelligent dike monitoring for the 21st
century - Experience in Embankment Monitoring”: the theme for the 2nd
UrbanFlood International Workshop - November 3, 2011 in Amsterdam,
The Netherlands. ... more
Sites around the world monitored by UrbanFlood
June 2011
More and more sites are online and monitored by
UrbanFlood, the network is now worldwide with the inclusion of a UK and
an Australian site.
The sites monitored by UrbanFlood are:
- Eemshaven, The Netherlands
- Boston United Kingdom
- Stammerdijk
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Vechtdijk Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
- Dike next to Zeelandbrug,
The Netherlands
- Brisbane, Queensland,
Australia
UrbanFlood on BBC World News
28 May 2011
Rising sea levels mean more and more of the world is at risk of flooding.
In this episode of BBC World News - Horizons we look at the next generation of
flood defences and how Dutch expertise and technology can help other areas
around the world.
Follow this link select episode 4 Part 1-
2011, to
see how UrbanFlood can
contribute.
Saint Petersburg
Consortium Meeting
28 May 2011
The UrbanFlood Consortium has held
its twice yearly Consortium Meeting in the hometown of our Russian partner OOO
Siemens, Saint Petersburg,
on May 25-27. A lot of work could be done and progress at the halfway mark of
the project is very good, concluded Prof. Dr. Robert Meijer, the Scientific
Coordinator. Of course a visit to the Saint Petersburg Flood Barrier was on the
programme, and after work the participants used the opportunity to make very
interesting visits to the cultural treasures of this former capital of Russia,
and to participate in the city anniversary celebrations. The famous ‘white
nights’ ensured that there was plenty of daylight time for both work and
pleasure! The UrbanFlood partners offer their sincere thanks for the perfect
organisation by partner Siemens.
Saint Petersburg Dam, source: Ilya Mokhov
Non-flood Early
Warning Systems
28 May 2011
Project coordinator
Robert Meijer: “The UrbanFlood system is really a general purpose facility to
create and manage monitor and control systems. We have stated before that
UrbanFlood tests the system for the case of flooding caused by dike or flood
barrier failure. I have stimulated co-workers to use it for other purposes. One
colleague uses the UrbanFlood technology for anomaly detection in his smart
home; another is using an EWS to monitor sensors attached to an huge bridge in
the Netherlands.
However, flood safety applications tend to have the most interest.
The Siemens-System warnt vor Hochwasser
12 May 2011
An
internet article about UrbanFlood on Silicon-Technology Hardware. Follow this link (German)
New Test Site in Boston
(UK)
20 April 2011
The UrbanFlood project
selected Boston (UK) as one of the pilot sites for an Early Warning System
framework that can be used to link sensors via the Internet to predictive
models and emergency warning systems.
Boston UK, source: E. Peters
Boston (UK) is a town
with a long history of floods located on the east coast of England. More than 50% of homes
(i.e. more than 15,000 homes) are at significant risk of flooding from a
combination of high tide and storm surge in the North Sea.
The main area of the town is a little inland from the coast but is affected by
tidal rivers in which the spring tide range is about 6m.
For this project a
simple embankment was selected at a location with a history of instability on
the riverward face. The instrumentation was selected on the basis of previous
experimentation and comparison of instruments installed in full scale dike
failure tests in the Netherlands
(IJkDijk). On April 12 Dutch developed MEMS modules (GeoBeads) were
successfully installed; by mid-May all remaining equipment will be installed,
(a): additional geobeads; (b): TenCate fibre optic cable and (c): two types of
US-Canada developed Shape Acceleration Arrays (SAA).
Geobeads are able to
detect local tilt, pore pressure and temperature, the latter as a proxy method
for detecting water flow. The SAA are able to measure three-directional
soil deformation and one type also detects pore pressure. The TenCate Sensor
enabled-geotextile strips are based on fibre optic sensing technology and are able
to detect soil strain by distributed light back-scattering. These were
installed along the entire 300m in the crest and front slope of the embankment.
This technology allows (much) longer stretches of embankment to be monitored at
low cost.
The gathered data is
being used to detect anomalies, supported by an Artificial Intelligence system.
If an anomaly is detected, this then triggers assessment of the likelihood of
levee breach. If breach is likely, the consequences in terms of flood
propagation and damage in the defended urban area are assessed via high speed
computer modelling. Results will be displayed on the project website. There are
also plans to set up a visitor centre in the town where this information is
made available and is linked to future plans for improvement of the levees in Boston.
Nomination Water Innovation
Award 2011
11 April 2011
The pilot study of the use of Geobeads (or rather
sensors) at the Stammerdijk in The Netherlands was nominated for the AGV Water
innovation award 2011! UrbanFlood is a partner in the project ‘Innovative
sensors’ of Waternet.
It is great that we had a chance in the topic water
safety. The announcement of the winner was on Wednesday 27 April, location
‘De Rode Hoed’ in Amsterdam.
Source: Rob van Putten, Senior Advisor Geotechnics at
Waternet, The Netherlands. Follow this link (Dutch) for more information.
UrbanFlood on Horizons
- BBC World News Channel
7 April 2011
The BBC filmed the FP7-project UrbanFlood at two
locations in the Dutch province Zeeland. The
experience was fascinating and will look very strong on film, according to the
director. It takes a while to edit all the footage to make a twenty two minute
piece; the first showing on BBC World News channel will be on 3rd June
2011. We’ll put the link online soon after. So, be sure to watch BBC Horizons
on June 3rd or come back to our website to see the documentary
online.
Better
flood protection thanks to the HPC Cloud
30 March 2011
Valeria Krzhizhanovskaya, Team leader modeling and
simulation at University
of Amsterdam (UvA) was
interviewed by the SARA Supercomputing and Networking Services journalist.
The interview will be published in the annual SARA
magazine, under the (draft) title "Better flood protection thanks to the
HPC Cloud".
Floods in
the Netherlands
25 January 2011
Because of rain and melting
snow in the Alps and the Ardennes the rivers Rhine and Maas reached very high
levels, which caused only limited and controlled flooding in the Netherlands.
Unlike the situation in Belgium and further abroad, where people in places as
far apart as Brazil, Sri Lanka and Queensland, Australia suffered severe
flooding, the situation in the Netherlands was mostly under control. The effort
of the last 15 years to improve the flood safety situation along the big rivers
was successful, this time.
The IJssel, source: Geert Veldstra
The IJssel at Deventer and Zuthpen in the Netherlands. The IIssel is a branch
of the river Rhine, which flooded adjacent
land and reached its highest level around 16 January 2011.
International
Water Week 2011 in Amsterdam
25 January 2011
Source www.waterlink-international.com
Amsterdam RAI will be organising the first International
Water Week in November 2011 in Amsterdam. Follow this link
Brisbane floods
upclose
18 January
2011
Source www.abc.net.au
High-resolution
aerial photos taken over Brisbane
last week have revealed the scale of devastation across dozens of suburbs and
tens of thousands of homes and businesses.
View the ABC News special presentation showing before and after
photos of the floods.
The
aerial photos of the Brisbane
floods were taken in flyovers on January 13 and January 14. Hover over
each photo
to view the devastation caused by flooding. Development: Jim Whimpey and
Andrew Kesper, Executive Producer: Matthew Liddy, Source: NearMap.