Data management for the Houtribdijk Research and Monitoring Programme

Photo: Arjen Ponger - Rijkswaterstaat 

What was the assignment?

The Houtribdijk between Lelystad and Enkhuizen was built during the period from 1956 to 1976 to drain the southern part of Lake IJssel (IJsselmeer) for agricultural use. This land reclamation plan was finally shelved in 2003. To ensure that the Houtribdijk once again meets the safety standards of the Dutch Water Act, Rijkswaterstaat is taking action to reinforce the dike over a distance of 25 kilometres as part of the national Flood Protection Programme.

This operation - reinforcing a sandy dike in a large lake without tidal movement - is a first, and more information is required to determine the level of effort required for management and maintenance. Rijkswaterstaat has launched a research and monitoring programme to deliver that information. A combination set up by HKV, Tauw and IV Infra is handling the data management aspect of this programme.

How did the collaboration go?

After a short ‘familiarisation period’ to ensure effective assignment of the roles within the HKV, Tauw and IV Infra combination, all the parties are collaborating extremely smoothly in the project. Rijkswaterstaat is an active participant in the project team and physically attends meetings as a stakeholder. This active presence means that decisions can be taken at the right time and major progress has already been made. The collaboration was intensive and particularly meaningful during the first year (2019). The system had to be developed and clear agreements made about how the parties would work together. The project, and the collaboration structure associated with it, has now entered a calmer phase in which continuous (automatic) monitoring takes place to feed the data management system's dike health monitor.

What was the result of the project?

The data management system (DMS) was created by HKV and the data flows can be tracked online in real time. Tauw drew up a guideline for this in the form of a data management template, which describes how the DMS should be used. The data manager, who was assigned by Tauw, collaborated actively with Rijkswaterstaat to build a conceptual framework and set up efficient data management and usage procedures to achieve the research objectives associated with the dike reinforcement activities.

The online health monitor and the process that has been set up allow timely action whenever the quality of the data indicates a need for intervention. Because this happens online, unexpected circumstances can be anticipated almost immediately. This real-time aspect significantly increases the data quality and usefulness of the periodic measurements, thereby benefiting the scientific research programme.