Water's Edge Development and Land Reclamation

Creating sustainable coastal zones for man and nature

More than 60% of the world's population lives in coastal areas, which are densely populated, fertile and have high economic activity. These areas face a constant dilemma between the need to preserve the natural environment and the many interests that drive water edge development, such as industry, housing, shipping and recreation. Managing these conflicting interests is the key factor to land reclamation and coastal development. At the same time ecological needs must be taken into account. Royal HaskoningDHV has developed a worldwide track-record in putting integrated development approaches into practice.  We stand for delivering innovative and sustainable solutions especially in the fields of polder development and floating land for all kinds of land use varying from golf courses, ports, airports or complete new cities.

Dredging and land reclamation

The availability of land for new developments such as airports or residential areas is encountering serious constraints. When located in the vicinity of seas and lakes, reclamation may ease that problem. Reclamation includes often dredging and is mostly part of large multi-disciplinary projects, requiring input from a variety of disciplines. Owing to the wide range of disciplines available within Royal HaskoningDHV we can meet all these requirements.

Traditionally dredging activities are related to the construction and maintenance of ports, dredging of rivers and irrigation channels. There is a worldwide trend for the expansion of industrial and residential areas. Although these projects are not new, the increase in scale in recent times has been tremendous. Hong Kong, Singapore and The Palm Islands in the UAE are typical examples. Beach nourishment should be mentioned as well, together with offshore winning of oil & gas, environmental clean-up and mining of minerals.

Development of the water edge and coastal areas

The development of the Netherlands has always focused on the element of water. Our (international) company with Dutch roots therefore has a long history in water management and has built up special expertise in this field of work. Also in the UK we have a strong record in coastal development.

Royal HaskoningDHV aims at sustainable coastal development from a water perspective, leading to integrated solutions. We promote a multi-disciplinary approach, taking into account 'water threats' (flooding, salt intrusion, etc.) but also 'water opportunities' (waterfront development, re-use of water, development of dynamic salt-brackish nature, etc.). The goal is to develop a safe and sustainable coastal environment with the highest spatial values possible.