International Coastal Environments

The official website for the Zandmotor

Large parts of the Netherlands are below sea level, protected against floods from the North Sea by a coastal flood defence system consisting of dunes, dams and storm-surge barriers. Over the last decades these flood defences were designed and maintained to be high and strong enough to withstand storm surge levels that may occur with a probability of 1/10,000 per year. The extremely high safety standards of the Dutch flood defence system are unique worldwide.

The artificial peninsula on the Dutch coast, the Sand Motor, has gradually spread 2.5 million cubic metre sand. Wind, tide and currents reshaped the sand body making it 260 metres narrower and 2.2 kilometres longer. Over a length of 2.5 kilometres the Dutch coastline has moved seawards and the Sand motor is already supplying sand to the coast over a stretch of 5 kilometres.