Unique strength test on glass wall for river flood defence
Dutch Herik-Strukton constructor consortium is working on a river flood scheme including a 80 m wide glass wall. To be sure that the glass wall meets all requirements, the strength of the construction has been extensively tested in the Delta flume at research institute Deltares.
View of embankment
The reinforcement project consists of strengthening the levee along the Meuse river near Neer, the Netherlands, over a distance of 1,600 metres and strengthening a hard barrier of 550 metres.
Raising the hard barrier by 70 cm meant that several houses would no longer have a view of the Meuse river. This initiated the discussion with the local community on an alternative scheme to incorporate a 80 m width glass wall to maintain protection and preserve the view.
Herik-Strukton consortium is designing and producing the glass barrier for regional water authority Waterschap Limburg. The plan is to install the barrier in the autumn of 2020 and the completion of the project as a whole is scheduled for late 2020.
Glass panels
The glass panels consist of multiple layers of glass and film and the ideal thickness and composition in terms of strength and transparency have been calculated, The glass panels will be installed in four locations, the longest of will be 30 metres long.
Before installation, a glass panel has been tested in various ways in the full scale Delta flume facility at Deltares, the Netherlands.
Part of the test was the simulation of a hit by a 6-metre-long tree trunk weighing 800 kg.
Various tests have been conducted to demonstrate that the glass barrier can withstand the loads that occur at extreme high water levels.
