|
 Dico C.van Ooijen is working for the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (Rijkswaterstaat) in Rotterdam, as a senior adviser for dikes and dams.
He assists the waterboards in making reconstructionplans for the riverdikes that do not reach the standard. He is also responsible for the financial part, since Rijkswaterstaat does pay hundred percent of the reconstruction for dikesections that are disapproved.
The main problems with the reconstructionplans of the dikes are the soft subsoil (peat and soft clays) and the large number of historic houses close to the riverdike.
He has always worked on waterdefenses, from polderdikes to sea-defences. Before his present job he worked as geotechnical and hydraulic adviser and in geotechnical research and development.
He has a university degree in civil engineering (Technical University of Delft) and is member of the Netherlands committee for environmental impact assessment.
Presentation
Dico van Ooijen is titled "Luctor et emergo" (the motto of the province where he was born and which was hit severly by the floods in the Netherlands in 1953) and will show the types of water disasters (rivers and sea floodings) the Netherlands has seen in the past eventually leading up to the flood of 1953. From then on the Dutch set up structures and programs to avoid such a major event from happening again. The Delta Commission was established and the Delta Plan was devised. Dykes were strengthened and other measures taken. A mere focus on security against the rising water shifted after protests by citizens and now sustainability has become an added focus. If time allows he will also highlight some innovative methods in the field of water management. |
