Connecting dikes and vegetated foreshores in managed realignment

To ensure flood safety under current climate change, many dike kilometers need to be adapted. A sustainable adaptation measure is managed realignment. Hereby, a new saline vegetation area (foreshore) can develop in front of the dike and aid in flood protection. This research studies several aspects related to the connection of dikes with vegetated foreshores in managed realignment. A literature review was performed on realigned dikes in coastal Europe. Field experiments were conducted in the Living Lab Hedwige Prosperpolder to study the influence of wrack (vegetation waste from the foreshores) on the dike grass cover and to measure erosion resistance of different dike grass cover reinforcements. Furthermore, flume experiments will be conducted to study the connection of a dike with foreshores on a small scale.