Dike Monitoring for Assessment and Reinforcement

Learning targets

Dike Monitoring is an effective way to gather information about your flood defense. The data you collect can be used not only for assessing the condition of your dike but also for designing it and for daily management and maintenance.

During this course, you will learn how to use measurements, monitoring, and information systems in the assessment and reinforcement of your dike. Recent practical experiences from several water authorities will guide you in your assessment tasks and safety evaluations. The use of this information leads to a more reliable assessment and an optimized reinforcement design.

After completing the course, you will: 

• understand the possibilities of using measurement and monitoring systems
• be familiar with the latest experiences from fellow water authorities
• know how to implement these systems within your own organization
• have developed a measurement plan tailored to your specific situation and determined which techniques are applicable

We will guide you through the information needs and apply this knowledge to the entire life cycle of the dike.

The following topics are covered: 

• successful strategies for obtaining dike information, potential gains, and challenges in dike assessment and design
• available measurement techniques and instruments
• setting up an effective measurement plan, acquiring and processing data
• interpreting and integrating data and information on flood defenses
• successful examples of measurement campaigns and monitoring used in the WBI assessment and safety evaluation

After completing this course, you will have: 

• knowledge of the possibilities of measurement and monitoring systems
• the skill to develop your own measurement plan
• the ability to choose from available techniques

Program

Monitoring of Flood Defenses

• what do we mean by dike information? what is monitoring? the relationship with measurements
• added value of data and information for assessment and design
• the life cycle of dikes
• failure mechanisms of dikes
• step-by-step plan: systematic approach to monitoring and cost-benefit analysis
• commonly used measurement and monitoring techniques, pros and cons
• data management: collecting data, handling data series, reuse
• developing and evaluating a measurement plan: measurement needs and strategy

Assessment Results and Reinforcement Task

• optimizing assessment results for piping: using advanced k-value research
• optimizing assessment results for design
• advanced assessment approach / custom assessment approach
• theory and ractice: optimizing assessment results and reinforcement tasks
• current strength approach for macro stability
• measuring and monitoring in practice: Livedijk XL and revision of hydraulic boundary conditions in Eems Dollard
• phased development: drilling, piezometer, sensor as a strategy

Target group

This course is intended for policy officers, assessors, and engineers and designers working for dike management authorities, consulting firms, and government agencies.