The Need for Multifunctional Dikes in Europe – the MultiDikes Project Concept

In Europe there is a considerable interest in new flood protection technologies. In case of sea or river dikes, the land consumption is an important issue, particularly in densely populated urban areas or when other land uses are compromised. However, dikes are generally restricted to the function of flood protection. Only few additional functions are common, such as roads and pathways, which often cause difficulties regarding the planning, construction and maintenance of dikes. The concept of dikes with multiple functions is therefore new. Some innovations are being developed in the Netherlands while in Germany and the rest of Europe these concepts are yet unknown – with the exception of a new prospect regarding woody plants on dams and dikes which is under investigation in Austria and Germany. The lack of multifunctionality also results from the respective laws and regulations, in which the usability of dike construction is strongly restricted. This should be discussed and rethought. The need for multifunctional dike concepts was approved by the German BMBF by funding a seed money project for a duration of 2 years. In this preparatory project, a larger EU cooperation project will be developed, in which the need for multifunctional flood protections and possible solutions will be investigated for different model regions around Europe. This paper presents the general concept and first ideas with the aim of finding additional partners and to start the discussion in the geotechnical research community.