laws and policies
1977
1977
In the Netherlands, after the flood of 1953 in Zeeland, the Delta plan was developed. Although a serious flooding occurred in Flanders too that time, it was only after the flood in Ruisbroek in 1976 that a master plan was developed. On February 18th 1977, the Cabinet Meeting decided the realization of the Sigma plan. The objective was to protect all low areas in the Sea Scheldt catchment against storm surges. A safety standard for the probability of occurrence was decided to be one percent a century. The plan had to be completed using three types of measures:
• Raising and strengthening the dikes.
• Construction and compartimentation of controlled inundation areas.
• Construction of a storm surge barrier in Antwerp (Oosterweel).
For the further execution of the Sigmaplan several alternatives are available: the building of dikes or the enhancement of vegetation growth. Furthermore, dikes can be moved more inland to create new intertidal areas and the inundation areas can be managed. As the execution of this plan clearly influences the estuarine ecosystem the Flemish government decided to carry out a largescale research project to build an ecosystem model of the estuary.
Further reading
Sigmaplan
VLIZ
Spatial calculation of flood damage and risk ranking