Open AccessON THE USE OF FREQUENCY CURVES OF STORMFLOODS
Author(s) -
P.J. Wemelsfelder
Publication year - 1960
Publication title -
proceedings of conference on coastal engineering/proceedings of ... conference on coastal engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2156-1028
pISSN - 0589-087X
DOI - 10.9753/icce.v7.33
Subject(s) - flood myth , threatened species , balance (ability) , face (sociological concept) , space (punctuation) , environmental science , geology , geography , computer science , sociology , ecology , archaeology , social science , medicine , habitat , physical medicine and rehabilitation , biology , operating system
In coastal engineering we often have to face the problem of high stormfloods. Especially if the land near the coast is flat and low, if it is densely populated or if high economic values have to be protected. In all these oases, where life and economic values are at stake, a design flood has to be established as a basis for the construction of the works of protection. Obviously the height of the design flood will be dependent on two factors. On one hand it depends on the characteristics of the sea, on its probable and possible heights. On the other hand it depends on the values of human and economic nature, threatened by the sea. So the design flood may be regarded as a balance between the threatening force of the sea and the values at stake. In this paper we will investigate the nature of this balance. This will lead us to a close examination of the frequency curves of stormfloods, to a discussion of the question: What is a reasonable risk and to a discussion of the question: What is the space of time we have to take into account.