methodologies and case studies

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  Allowing Natural Sedimentation in the Nieuwe Waterweg to Reduce Salinity Intrusion and the Effects of Sea Level Rise

  Maarten Kleinhans, Silke Baltussen, Eise Nota, Jana Cox, Han Meijer, Jasper Hugtenburg

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  The Nieuwe Waterweg is the artificial mouth of the Rhine and Meuse Rivers in the Netherlands and an important shipping channel for the Port of Rotterdam. The channel, about a half-kilometer wide, is dredged to depths of more than 16 m to allow navigation. This substantial depth has adverse effects on flood safety, ecology and salinity intrusion in the lower river system. Mitigating these effects through engineering is costly and increasingly unviable with rising sea levels. A straightforward, nature-based alternative is to allow natural sedimentation, gradually making the channel...