Assessing past and future closures of storm surge barriers

平均海平面上升在许多方面威胁着许多低洼沿海地区，包括加剧极端海平面事件。极端的海平面事件会引起严重的沿海洪水和侵蚀。荷兰特别容易受到海平面上升和沿海洪水和侵蚀的影响，因为其大约50%的土地面积低于平均海平面1米。荷兰的字面意思是“较低的国家”。今天，荷兰的1700万居民中，几乎有一半居住在350公里长的海岸沿线或接近或低于平均海平面的地区。在整个荷兰，六个风暴潮屏障构成了三角洲工程的重要组成部分，保护大片土地免受洪水侵袭。风暴潮屏障是位于河口、潮汐入口和河口的可移动的防洪门或屏障，当水位极高时，它们会自动或非自动关闭。随着平均海平面上升速度预计将在21世纪剩余时间及以后加速，预计风暴潮屏障将需要越来越频繁地关闭，这对操作、管理和维护窗口具有重要意义。该博士项目将评估荷兰风暴潮屏障过去和未来的关闭情况，并探讨对泰晤士河屏障、新威尼斯屏障和世界各地其他屏障的影响。

Rising mean sea levels threaten many low-lying coastal areas in many ways, including raising extreme sea-level events. Extreme sea-level events can give rise to serious coastal flooding and erosion. The Netherlands is especially vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal flooding and erosion, as approximately 50% of its land area is less than 1 m above mean sea level. Netherlands literally means 'lower countries'. Today, almost half of the Netherlands' 17 million inhabitants live along its 350 km coast or in regions which are near to or below mean sea level.Across the Netherlands, six storm surge barriers form an important part of the Delta Works, which protects large areas of land from flooding. Storm surge barriers are moveable flood gates or barriers at estuaries, tidal inlets and river mouths which close, automatically or otherwise, when water levels are extremely high. With the rate of mean sea level rise projected to accelerate over the remainder of the 21st century and beyond, it is expected the storm surge barriers will need to close more and more regularly, with important implications for operation, management and maintenance windows. This PhD project will assess past and future closures of the storm surge barriers in the Netherlands and explore implications for the Thames Barrier, the new Venice Barrier, and other barriers around the world.