Coastal Engineering, 6 (1982) 331--360 331

Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands

THE CLOSURE OF TIDAL BASINS

G. VAN HOUWENINGE and A. DE GRAAUW

Ministry of Water Works, The Hague (The Netherlands)
Delft Hydraulics Laboratory, Postbus 152, 8300 AD Emrneloord (The Netherlands)
(Received October 30, 1981; revised and accepted February 19, 1982)

ABSTRACT

Van Houweninge, G. and de Graauw, A., 1982. The closure of tidal basins. Coastal Eng.,
6: 331--360.

The closing of tidal basins generally serves a combination of various purposes, such as
land reclamation, protection against floods, creation of fresh-water reservoirs, etc. Closure
works in tidal areas will change the tidal conditions on the sea side of the closure, while
desalination will be the main problem in the enclosed area. A comparison between some
closure methods is given. A distinction is made between sudden and gradual closure
methods, the latter being subdivided into vertical, horizontal and combined methods.
Some attention is paid also to the seabed protection, which is needed in order to re-
duce the risk of instability of the closure dam during construction. As an illustration of a
large-scale closure operation, a case study has been worked out briefly. From a compari-
son between a vertical and a combined horizontal and vertical closure method, the latter
appears to be less appropriate in the case of large-scale closure works.

INTRODUCTION

Closures of tidal basins have been carried out around the world for many
centuries. Before the twentieth century, they were mostly of a limited scale,
using simple techniques mainly based on experience; this experience was
built up by trial and error. Methods to determine the expected velocities in
the different stages of the closure and the effect of these velocities on stone
stability, scouring etc, were not available.
People involved in this type of closure experienced many disappointments.
Partly completed dams were often destroyed by the combined action of
currents and waves. The introduction of proper methods of seabed protection.
e.g. by using wooden or reed mattresses, diminished scouring problems, thus
enabling the execution of larger closures.
Real scale enlargement, however, was not attained before the beginning of
this century. Two basic features started this new era; improved insight into
tidal hydrodynamics and the development of larger, mostly steam-propelled
{floating) equipment. More modern dredging techniques played an important
role in furthering this development.

0378-3839/82/0000--0000/$02.75 © 1982 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company

332

In The Netherlands two events led to the political willingness to undertake

larger closure operations. During the first world war {1914--1918), the
Netherlands remained neutral and suffered food shortages because of the
disturbance of supply lines. This situation called for additional agricultural
land, to be reclaimed from the sea. Secondly, a flood disaster induced by a
storm surge occurred in 1916. The result of these two events was the closure
of the Zuiderzee in 1932, followed by land reclamation in the enclosed lake
(see Figs. 1 and 2). Two purposes were served by this closure; increased
safety against both storm surges and food shortages.
The southwestern part of the Netherlands was partly inundated by the
flood disaster of 1953 in which some 1850 people were killed. The "Delta-
plan", whose main purpose was to shorten the coastline and thereby to
prevent similar disasters in the future, was subsequently carried out. The
main layout of the Deltaplan and the closure dams constructed within its
scope, are indicated in Fig. 2. Improved water management of the main river
infrastructure was a secondary goal of the Deltaplan, but land reclamation was
not one of the purposes of this project. The principle underlying the Delta
project was to start small and then to proceed to more ambitions schemes.
In the Republic of Korea, the need for additional agricultural land became
more pressing during the last decades. This need was triggered by the very

REPUBLIC OF KOREA THE NETHERLANDS

,~ ~ J ZU,DERZEE ,'
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/ D I

• BELO,U)~ C..~- ~

LANDRECLAMATIONS 20 TH CENTURY
FORMER LANDRECLAMATLONS

MI REAS
AREA - - I OL 1~;.....Ooio: km 1~0 i

Fig. 1. Land reclamation in the Republic of Korea and The Netherlands.

 333

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'i!i!ii!iiiiiiii!i-~"~iii;;
CLOSURE DAM c:~ DISCHARGE SLUICE OR PUMPING STATION
~ STORMSURGE BARRIER <:~ NAVIGATION LOCK

Fig. 2. Tidal basin closures and related land reclamation in the Republic of Korea and
The Netherlands.
334

rapid industrial development that required large parts of the " o l d " land.
Subsequently large land reclamation projects were carried out. (see Fig. 1.)
These projects required the closure of tidal basins, enabling the creation of
fresh-water reservoirs for water supply to the newly reclaimed areas and to
the existing farm land (see Fig. 2).
In Tables I and II a summary is given of the main tidal-basin closures and
the related land reclamation in both the Republic of Korea and the Nether-
lands. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate this summary.
As can be observed from the tables, the tidal range in the Asan Bay area
is more than double.the largest tidal range in the Netherlands. However,
during construction-phase storms, this range may increase up to 6 m.
In the Republic of Korea very large-scale land-reclamation projects are
planned for the near future. These will necessitate even larger-scale closures,
TABLE I

S u m m a r y o f m a i n tidal basin closures in the R e p u b l i c o f K o r e a (Past and i m m e d i a t e

future )

Name of project Tidal v o l u m e Mean spring Area o f land

(in million m 3) tidal range reclamed
(in m ) (in h a * )

Namyang 80 8
Pyongtaek 2682
Asan 180 8
Gyew Hado N.A. N.A. 7500
Sapkyo Cheon 145 8 ....
Y o n g san gang N.A. N.A. 5500
Dae h o area N.A. 8 3700

* T o t a l p r o j e c t area 172,115 ha, e x p a n s i o n o f f a r m land 28,732 ha.

N.A. = n o t available.

T A B L E II

S u m m a r y o f m a i n tidal basin closures (past and i m m e d i a t e f u t u r e ) in The N e t h e r l a n d s *

Name of project Tidal v o l u m e Mean spring Area o f land

(in million m 3) tidal range reclamed
(in m )

Zuiderzee 300 1.0 165,000

Veerse gat 80 3.5 -
Haringvliet 250 2.5 --
B r o u w e r s h a v e n s e gat 360 3.0 --
Lauwerszee 120 2.4 5 000
Eastern Scheldt * * 1100 3.5 --

• Only 2 0 t h c e n t u r y closures and land r e c l a m a t i o n i n d i c a t e d .

• * S t o r m surge barrier u n d e r c o n s t r u c t i o n .
 335

than those carried o u t in the last decade. Some techniques and experience
obtained with similar scale enlargements in the Netherlands are presented in
this paper.

T H E P U R P O S E O F T I D A L BASIN C L O S U R E S A N D T H E I R E F F E C T O N T H E
ADJACENT AREAS

In general, the closing of tidal basins serves a combination of the purposes

mentioned below:
(a) Land reclamation.
(b) Protection against floods from the sea.
(c) Creation of fresh-water reservoirs (water supply).
(d) Production of tidal energy.
(e) Closed sea harbours (behind locks).
(f) Closure in relation to the construction of docks, locks, sluices etc.
As already mentioned in the introduction, the closure of the Zuiderzee in
the Netherlands served the first three of these purposes. The Delta project
in the Netherlands is aimed at flood protection and the creation of fresh-water
reservoirs. The closure of the Rance in France is an example of the produc-
tion of tidal energy.
In the Republic of Korea, land reclamation in combination with the crea-
tion of fresh-water reservoirs is the main purpose of the tidal basin closures
carried o u t in the last decade. The closure of Asan Bay is a potantial example
of an enclosed sea harbour behind locks. There are of course many more
examples in the world.
Before discussing the technical aspects of closure operations, it is worth-
while to pay some attention to the effect of completed closure operations
on the areas adjacent to the closure dam. These can be subdivided into ef-
fects on the remaining tidal estuary and on the enclosed lake.

Effects on the remaining tidal estuary

The primary effect of a closure dam on the remaining estuary is a change

of the tidal conditions in this estuary. This effect has to be forecast in order
to prevent undesirable changes of this tidal regime. Mathematical tidal models
are available and have been succesfully used to assess the characteristics of
the new tidal regime.
An example of the changes in the tidal conditions after the construction
of the Zuiderzee closure is presented in Fig. 3. From Fig. 3A it may be ob-
served that near the "Pollendam", the tidal difference of the lunar semidiurnal
tide (M2) increased from 1.3 m before to 1.8 m after the closure.
The maximum ratio of the tidal current velocities after and before closure
amounts to 1.25 as can be seen in Fig. 3B. A change of the tidal regime will
induce morphological changes; tidal gullies will shift, whilst the depths will
change as well. These morphological changes will in their turn influence the
336

N BEFORE AFTER

NDAM

CLOSURE DAM

TIDAL ( M2 )
.,ib/ RANGE (CM}
20

ZUIDERZEE

Scole
kn
20 40 60 80 IO0

Fig. 3. The influence of the Zuiderzee closure (1932) on the tidal regime in the remaining
estuary. A. Tidal range before and after closing. B. Current velocity ratio between situations
after and before closing.
 337

tidal regime and so onwards, showing the strong interaction between the two.
Three main aspects, which will be influenced by the above-mentioned
effects, can be distinguished: (a) the accessibility of harbours; (b) the storm
surge levels; and (c) the environment.
After the enclosure of a tidel basin, sedimentation will occur in a zone near
the closure dam and m a y occur at other locations in the remaining estuary.
The depth of harbours and shipping channels may decrease, necessitating
maintenance dredging. The changed current pattern may influence the nautical
behaviour of ships. The latter can lead to a necessary reconstruction of shipp-
ing channels and the installation of (additional) navigational aids. The above-
mentioned effects will be strongly influenced by the alignment of the closure
dam. Again tidal models will enable the prediction of the changes. If the ef-
fects are undesirable, closure dam alignments can be adapted. An example
of such a reconsideration of the closure dam alignment is the closure dam of
the Zuiderzee. As can be observed in Fig. 3A, the chosen alignment of this
dam is n o t the shortest connection between the t w o shorelines. Tidal compu-
tation for a situation with a more southern alignment showed an unacceptable
increase in the amplitude of both the tidal currents and the vertical tide. Con-
sequently the alignment was shifted in a northerly direction.
An increase in tidal difference may also lead to an increase of storm surge
levels, necessitating a reconstruction of existing sea defences.
Environmental changes in the remaining tidal estuary may occur due to
changes in location and area of tidal wetlands. These changes may affect the
biological production of these areas. Ecological effects, n o t necessarily nega-
tive, may result. Water quality aspects will, under certain circumstances, p l a y
a role in the choice of the closure dam alignment. A change of the current
velocities may result in different dilution patterns of the discharge of sewage
and other effluents and the water quality of the remaining estuary may be
affected thereby.

Effects on ~he enclosed lake

The closure dam alignment determines the shape and extent of the en-
closed lake. Vital for the functioning of such an enclosed lake as a source of
water is a sufficient influx of fresh water enabling (among other things) a
proper desalination. The replacement of the brackish water in the enclosed
basin by fresh water from rivers is brought a b o u t by a mixing process, where-
by excess water is evacuated via sluice gates to the sea.
The time of desalination will depend upon a number of parameters, of whict
the fresh water inflow is one of the most important. The equilibrium salinity
level reached in the reservoir will be influenced by the supply of salt from
various sources such as:
(a) Leakage of sluice gates.
(b) Sea water intrusion during locking operations of ships.
(c) Saline seepage underneath the closure dam.
338

(d) Brackish effluent from (polder) areas draining into the reservoir
(e) Diffusion of salt from the river bed.
(f) Inflow of river water with a certain salinity.
(g) Inflow of brackish ground water.
Before a proper reservoir design can be accomplished, it is necessary to
obtain an insight into the presence and magnitude of the above-mentioned
sources of salt supply. Based on this information and the water balance, a
salt balance can be drawn up. In this way failures can be avoided. If the out-
come of the above-mentioned study is negative, a revised, feasability plan can
be drafted.
If the above-mentioned considerations lead to such a revision of plans, this
may well include a change of the closure dam alignment. The geometry of the
enclosed lake, in relation to the location of fresh-water inflow is also an
i m p o r t a n t aspect for both the desalination process and the equilibrium salinity
level of the reservoir.
The success of land reclamation is n o t only determined by a sufficient
quantitative and qualitative supply of water. A proper drainage system, vital
to desalinate the soil and to prevent the occurrence of too saline ground
water after the initial desalination, has to be installed. Drainage techniques
are well developed in the Netherlands, especially in relation to the large land-
reclamation projects (165,000 ha) in the Zuiderzee region (see Fig. 2).
A subject n o t y e t discussed is the water quality in the reservoirs. Main as-
pects determining this quality are the dissolved oxygen c o n t e n t in relation to
sewage disposal and the prevention of algal bloom. The possibility of main-
taining a proper water quality is to a large extent influenced by the avail-
ability of a sufficient discharge to flush the reservoir through the discharge
sluice. Reservoir salinity level and water quality are of course strongly inter-
related as both depend on the above-mentioned discharge.
Concluding, it can be remarked that the closure of tidal basins in general
and the alignment of the closure dam in particular, have an impact on both
the remaining estuary and the newly created lake. The success of a project
will therefore n o t only depend upon the technical accomplishment of the
closure operation, but to a very large extent on a proper analysis into all the
aspects which determine the quality level, with which the ultimate goal,
mostly land reclamation, is reached.

S TARTING POINTS OF CLOSURE OPERATIONS

General

When preparing the construction of a closure dam, a number of essential

decisions have to be made, of which the most important are:
(a) The alignment of the closure dam, some aspects of which have been
discussed in the previous section.
(b) The location and design of structures in the dam (e.g. locks and sluices).
(c) The closure method.
 339

The alignment of the closure dam determines the cross-section and there-
fore the shape of the gap to be closed. The alignment also determines the
tidal basin area to be closed. Together with the tidal difference and the closure
method, the alignment therefore determines the current velocities in the
different stages of the closure operation.
The locks and sluices in the dam alignment have to be built on the tidal
flats, inside a construction dock. After completion of the structures, the
construction dock can be dredged away.
Various closure methods are available and have been successfully used. The
Deltaplan in the Netherlands is an example of scale enlargement in closure
operations.
In the next section closure methods and the factors determining the
choice between them will be discussed.

CLOSURE METHODS

General

When a closure dam is built, the in and outflow of water through the gap,
that is gradually narrowed during the closure, will be hampered. This results
in a decrease in the tidal range in the basin. As the tidal characteristics out-
side the basin remain mostly unchanged, the water level differences across
the gap increase. Consequently the tidal current velocities through the gap
will increase as well. The scouring effect of these larger, turbulent velocities,
will endanger the stability of the seabed adjacent to the dam and thus the
foundation of the closure dam. This implies, that the seabed, when it consists
of easily erodable material, has to be protected by current-resisting construc-
tions. In general, prior to the start of a closure operation, a seabed protec-
tion has therefore to be laid to ensure a stable foundation of the closure dam.
The materials (rock, concrete blocks, stiff clay, or concrete caissons) used
for the closure operation should resist the current velocities occurring. In-
dependent of the closure method, coarser materials are necessary in the sub-
sequent stages of a closure operation. From the above it will be clear that
knowledge of expected current velocities is necessary to determine material
sizes, and to predict scourhole dimensions. Mathematical and physical tidal
models can be used for this purpose and are in fact indispensable tools. An
example in Fig. 5 illustrates the c o m p u t e d and observed vertical tide and
discharge through the Brouwershavense gat (for location see Fig. 4). As can
be observed, the c o m p u t e d curves very closely match those observed. In the
same Fig. 5, the c o m p u t e d water-level differences during the final closure
stage are also shown.
In the first stage of a closure operation, the gap can be narrowed by build-
ing o u t from the sides. For the closing of the final gap two groups of closure
methods can be distinguished: (a) the gradual closures; and (b) the sudden
closures.
340

BROUWERSHAVENSE GAT.
N

NORTHSEA
CAISSON CLOSURE

i - L

WORK ISLAND

GREVELINGEN
CABLEWAY CLOSURE ~)

Fig. 4. Various tidal basin closures in the Delta area.

 341

HOURS
7 8 9 I0 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
I
EBB

300OO

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d
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oooo

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.J
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I--

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...... M E t SUR "D I
F LOOD
COM:~UTE D
I 40000
VERTICAL TIDE BROUWERSHAVEN
DISCHARGE BROUWERHAVENSE GAT

8/
U..

I COMPUTED HEAD
E
DIFFERENCES
DURING L A S T
Lu
t.J CLOSURE STAGE
Z
bJ
t~J

a
o
w
12

m
1
m

0 2 4 6 8 I 0 12 14 16 18 2 0 2 2 2 4
HOURS

Fig. 5. Tidal computations Brouwershavense Gat.

342

A. VERTICAL CLOSURE

\'V~:'.~! 4 <' .'<.LI[ ".: ~.-/,/--- SEABED ROTE I _

B. HORIZONTAL CLOSURE

#/

C. COMBINED VERT. AND HOR. CLOSURE

D. COMBINED VERT. AND HOR. CLOSURE ( LARGE ELEMENT CAISSONS)

Fig. 6. Gradual d o s i n g methods.

 343

The gradual closure

The gradual closure methods can be subdivided into horizontal and vertical
closures. A combination of the horizontal and vertical m e t h o d is one of the
possibilities. Figure 6 illustrates the main principles of these closure methods.

Vertical closure methods

The great advantage of a vertical closure operation is the fact that a situa-
tion of free overflow is reached after which the current velocities do n o t
further increase. Such a free overflow situation and the relation between cur-
rent velocity and remaining gap profile is illustrated in Fig. 7.
In a vertical closure operation two stages can be generally distinguished.
The first stage will consist of the dumping of stone of gradually increasing
sizes with the help of floating equipment. In the Netherlands split barges and
specially designed stone-dumping vessels are employed in this stage. This
operation can be carried out until either the available depth becomes t o o low
or the current velocities become t o o high during the tidal cycle (larger than
2--2.5 m/sec). In both cases the production decreases to such an extent that
other methods become more feasible. For the second stage of the closure
operation, various methods are available such as cableways, helicopters or
the use of a bridge. In some cases floating cranes can be used in the second
stage.
Three major closure operations were carried out with the help of cableways
in the Netherlands, as is illustrated in Fig. 8. The cableway closure system had
been used once before in the UK b u t cableways had been extensively used all
over the world for transporting persons and material from one place to another
and could, with minor changes, be adapted for the use intended in the
Netherlands. Because the operations required only a short time a self-propelled
cable car was chosen instead of cable cars, which were hoisted or moved along
a continuous looped carrier cable and moved, all of them simultaneously, by
a second cable. The disadvantage of the self-propelled cabins is the greater
weight but this was easily offset by the greater flexibility of the system and
the economics.
The payload and dumping capacity of the cableways used are illustrated
in Table III.
As can be observed, concrete blocks of 2.5 tons were used in the last two
mentioned closure operations. The block sizes were n o t only determined by
the current velocities in the last closure stage, b u t also by wave attack after
closure and before completion of the (sand) dams. The reasons for using con-
crete blocks instead of, for instance, rubble are the following: (a) rubble has
to be imported in the Netherlands, involving high transportation costs; and
(b) concrete blocks are easy to produce, to stack and to handle. By dumping
concrete blocks, a closure dam with a large initial permeabiliW is constructed.
The voids between the blocks have to be filled in and several succesful methods
(e.g. using sand asphalt) have been used.
344

h _~273 H
V = m, H 3/2

!
H

SEABED PROTECTION
SCOUR HOI~E
THE FREE OVERFLOW SITUATION

8
VERTICAL CLOSURE ( FIG. 6 A . )
HORIZONTAL CLOSURE( FIG. 6 B )
=E 7 -I--P-'r-l-+ COMBINED CLOSURE (FIG. 6C/D)
\
rt \ SUDDEN CLOSURE ( FIG. 9/~0)
\
6
X
W \
\
35
(J
\ START OF FREE OVERFLOW VERTICAL CLOSURE

>-
t--
4
5
0
_J
uJ Z,
>

=#2
(3

J L
0 Io 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 9o io0 %
CLOSURE GAP IN % OF ORIGINAL CROSS SECTION

CURRENT VELOCITIES AS FUNCTION

OF CROSS SECTION AND CLOSURE METHOD

Fig. 7. Current velocities as a f u n c t i o n of the closure m e t h o d ( D u t c h circumstances).

 345

Q GREVELINGEN ( 1 9 6 3 )
+ 3750

(~) HARINGVLIET ( 1970 )

, + 39.00

565.00 580,00
Lt

~ BROUWERSHAVENSE GAT (1971)

+3000

Q FOR LOCATION SEE FIGURE 4

Fig. 8. Cable way closures.

346

TABLE III

Closing of Delta dams by means of cableways

Location (see Fig. 4) Material Pay load Dead load Dumping

capacity*

Grevelingen ( 1 ) rubble 10 tons 20 tons 120 tons/h

60--30 kg

Haringvliet (2) 4 concrete 10 tons 20 tons 300 tons/h

blocks of
2.5 tons per
telpher

Brouwershavense gat (3) 6 concrete 15 tons 17 tons 1000 tons/h**

blocks of
2.5 tons
per telpher

* Maximum capacities.
** Average weekly production 60,000--80,000 tons.

A s e c o n d m e t h o d of vertical closure, using h e l i c o p t e r s , was tested. T h e main

reason for considering this s y s t e m is the possibility to use it as a back-up in
case o f a mishap with the c a b l e w a y . A S i k o r s k y Sky Crane o w n e d b y the
U.S. A r m y was used for carrying o u t tests. A t o t a l n u m b e r of 8 0 0 0 blocks o f
2.5 t o n s were d r o p p e d . T h e tests were a success, a total w e e k l y p r o d u c t i o n
o f 2 0 , 0 0 0 tons per h e l i c o p t e r c o u l d be reached.
T h e t h i r d m e n t i o n e d m e t h o d o f vertical closure is the use of a bridge. This
m e t h o d has b e e n e n g i n e e r e d as a possibility for closures to be carried o u t in
the eighties. A t e m p o r a r y steel bridge used at this m o m e n t in the Delta area
was specially designed t o enable its use for a closure o p e r a t i o n . T r u c k s are
l o a d e d at loading stations at b o t h sides o f the bridge. Average w e e k l y p r o d u c -
tions are e x p e c t e d to vary b e t w e e n 5 0 , 0 0 0 and 8 0 , 0 0 0 tons.
T h e advantage o f bridge and c a b l e w a y closure m e t h o d s is t h a t t h e y are less
vulnerable to m e t e o r o l o g i c a l c o n d i t i o n s t h a n floating e q u i p m e n t and heli-
copters.

Horizon tal closure m e t h o d s

T h e basic principle of a h o r i z o n t a l closure is i n d i c a t e d in Fig. 6B. In the
case t h a t r u b b l e or stiff clay is used, the m e t h o d consists of building o u t f r o m
the sides in a simple way. An alternative t o the a b o v e is a closure by m e a n s
of sand p u m p i n g . B o t h m e t h o d s have b e e n used in the N e t h e r l a n d s . T h e
Z u i d e r z e e dike was c o n s t r u c t e d with the help of stiff b o u l d e r clay. T h e clay
was h a n d l e d b y crane barges. Several sand closures have been carried out.
T h e feasibility o f the latter m e t h o d is largely d e p e n d e n t on the availability of
large p r o d u c t i o n dredging e q u i p m e n t , t h e m e a n grain size of the sand a n d the
 347

maximum current velocities encountered in the last closure stage. Current

velocities should n o t be greater than 2 to 2.5 m/sec.
Horizontal closure methods are only feasible for comparatively small size
closures. This is illustrated in Fig. 7. As can be observed from this figure, the
current velocities are increasing up to the final closure stage.

Corn bined closure methods

Two combined closure methods are illustrated in Fig. 6. The m e t h o d indi-
cated in Fig. 6C has been frequently used in the Republic of Korea. A sill is
built up using floating equipment. As with the first stage in a vertical closure
operation, either the maximum current velocities or the available depth are
the limiting factors for the height of this sill. In general a situation of free
overflow (see Fig. 7) at both maximum ebb and flood velocities is n o t
reached by the vertical part of the combined closure method. This means that
when the gap is closed from the sides, e.g. by dumping stone with trucks, a
considerable narrowing of the gap is needed before a free overflow situation
occurs under flood conditions. The latter may only occur during the final
closure stage. Consequently large current velocities will have to be overcome.
This leads to the necessity of large stone sizes. If the closure operation takes
t o o long, large scour holes endangering the stability of the dam under con-
struction may occur.
A second m e t h o d of combined closure is illustrated in Fig. 6D. A sill is
built up with rubble. After the sill is carefully profiled, concrete caissons* are
placed at slack tide.
In emergency situations, e.g. after dike breaches, even ships have been used
in the Netherlands. The feasibility of this closure m e t h o d is largely dependent
on anticipated scouring problems and on the duration of the slack-water perio~
in which the last caisson has to be placed. Moreover, geotechnical stability
considerations play an important role as will be discussed further on in this
section.
In general, it may be concluded that both types of gradual closure discus-
sed above have a limited applicability. It is for this reason that the large
closures in the Delta project have been executed either as gradual vertical
closures or as sudden closures, using sluice caissons. The sudden closure
m e t h o d will be discussed below.

The sudden closure

The sudden closure m e t h o d can be subdivided into two methods: closing

a gap in one operation by using a rigid caisson (see Fig. 9A) or using sluice
caissons and closing the sluice gates after all caissons are emplaced (see Fig.
9, 10). The first-mentioned m e t h o d is in fact a variant of the combined
closure method. In this variant, one caisson is used. The first stage of a sud-

* N o t sluice caissons, b u t rigid c o n c r e t e caissons are m e a n t ; as illustrated in Fig. 9A.

348

2
N

BEETLE

PHOENIX

c9 DIKE REPAIR 1945 + 1953

VEERSE GAT 1961

@

0 VOLKERAK 197c

LAUWERSZEE 1969
@

0 BROUWERSHAVENSE GAT I971

FOR LOCATION SEE FIG. 4

0

Fig. 9. Caisson closures.

 349

A
r

FRONT VIEW CROSS SECTION

t 18.00 m

O 5 IO IS 2am
i i i i

CROSS SECTION A- A

NORTHSEA GREVELINGEN

Aspho It Asphol t
concrete
l Toeprotection l Future rood ! Cloy 10oPMrOOt:e~et~On/'
,. J • l l ~ ~ ,JiJ.I
Parallel I J Parallel I I J
rood | | Road , roQd / / /

+500 +550 . . . . . . . :: : f't'30 ÷620=4~u= . ~ r ~-u~-~

r --1Ground level - _, t ~'~- . . . . ~Concrete b-ioc=ks- . . . . -;~

t I~ - ~Sj~[]~ ] ~ - | South channel .
~ss~ ar~ed
L20.O0 I 2,.C0 I 25.00 ~ 0 0 5~0 [ll.l(~ 51.50 ~ 28.(X) iI2.7~81~
, ' , ' '~2o.~5 ' ' ' ' .I
r I

CROSS SECTION CLOSURE DAM

Fig. 10. Brouwershavense Gat sluice caisson.

 ,350

waves

SCHEMATIC FORCES
H : Horizontal hydraulic load

G: Self weight including ballast

ballast J~
W I : Resuttin 9 woterlood due to
water in cQisson

W2: Upward water load

R : Resulting subsoil load

pressure distribution
due to waves(wave-
shock) and drop
in woterlevei

~ p'~re~sure distribution
water~ogd under bottom
W2

ACTION FORCES
subsoil friction
limite d to
0.4 ~ 0.5-X-vertical fo~ce t~'~

LOAD DIAGRAM distributio, of-- ~-~R'~~

f oundation pressure

REACTION FORCES
Fig. 11. Loads on a caisson after placing on a sill.

d e n c l o s u r e w i t h sluice caissons is t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f a sill o n the s e a b e d

p r o t e c t i o n , w i t h t h e help o f f l o a t i n g e q u i p m e n t . T h e sill has t o be carefully
f l a t t e n e d , e.g. w i t h t h e help o f a b u c k e t dredger. D u r i n g this first stage t h e
sluice c a i s s o n s are built in a c o n s t r u c t i o n d o c k . A f t e r c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e
 351

caissons, the dock is inundated and the e m b a n k m e n t of the dock is dredged

away. The caissons are towed to the closure gap and carefully positioned at
slack tide. The valves are opened and the caissons are sunk on the sill (see
Fig. 10).
The floating panels are taken away, enabling the flow through the gap to
pass the caissons. Directly afterwards, the caissons are ballasted, and a rubble
dam is d u m p e d at both sides of the caissons to reduce seepage and thus to
prevent undermining (see Fig. 10).
The whole placing operation has to be very carefully prepared. The behav-
iour of the caissons under current and wave conditions and the duration of
slack water periods is generally studied in hydraulic models. The data from
these models are used to draft the plan of operations. In the Netherlands
models were used to simulate every caisson placement in advance.
As mentioned above, the steel gates of all caissons are closed simultaneously
after the last caisson is placed in the gap. The period after the actual closure
and before the completion of the dam is a critical one. During this period
the caisson is subjected to hydraulic loads from water level differences and
from waves. A schematic picture of the action and reaction forces on a cais-
son is presented in Fig. 11.
Calculations have to be carried out to ascertain the stability of the caissons,
especially under construction-phase storm conditions. The parameters for
these calculations were in most cases not available and had to be obtained
from large-scale model tests. The caisson's own weight plays an important
role in the stability (see Fig. 11). However, this weight has to be limited due
to draft and manoeuvrability.
Four major (sluice) caisson closures have been carried out in the Netherlands,
as shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 4. Three of these took place in the Delta region.
The scale enlargement is clearly illustrated in Fig. 9. In the Brouwershavense
gat, 12 sluice caissons have been placed in the Northern closure dam. The
width of the final gap was 900 m as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The choice between closure m e t h o d s

The cableway m e t h o d (gradual vertical closure) and the sluice caisson

m e t h o d (sudden closure) have both advantages and disadvantages.
An advantage of the sluice caisson m e t h o d , compared to the cableway
m e t h o d , is the occurrence of smaller current velocities in the final stage, as
is illustrated in Fig. 7. Consequently, scouring problems are less severe in the
case of a sluice caisson closure, provided the sill is not too high and built
quickly.
Disadvantages of a caisson closure are the stability risks and the sophisti-
cated and vulnerable character of the closure operation. In relation to this,
the flexibility of the operation is greater in the case of a eableway closure
than for caisson closure. This is one of the reasons why the two methods
were combined in the Brouwershavense gat, as is shown in Fig. 4.
352

SEABED PROTECTION

As mentioned earlier in this paper, the construction of seabed protection

forms an important and integral part of every closure operation carried out
on a base of erodable soil. The length of the seabed protection perpendicular
to the closure dam alignment depends on the hydraulic conditions to be ex-
pected in relation with the closure method. These hydraulic conditions, to-
gether with the period in which they are present, the diameter of the bed
material and the protection length determine the scourhole dimensions,
which in turn determine the risk of instability of the closure dam. Methods
have been developed in the Netherlands to calculate the scourhole dimensions
as a function of the different parameters.
The choice of the protection length is based on these computations and
physical model tests. Seabed protection lengths perpendicular to the closure
dam alignment of around 300 to 400 m have been applied in the Netherlands.
For the construction of the Storm Surge Barrier in the Eastern Scheldt, the
closure piece of the Deltaplan, a m a x i m u m length of 1400 m has been ap-
plied. In this case the scouring is n o t temporary, as in closure operations,
but permanent. The scale enlargement in the a m o u n t of seabed protection
to be applied has led to new advanced techniques. Two of these techniques
are illustrated in Fig. 12. Mastic asphalt, an impermeable protection, has been
applied with the help of a specially designed vessel. This vessel is a floating
mastic factory. The mastic flows through a vertical supply pipe. In fact, the
system can be considered as a large underwater "Barber-Green" such as is used
in road construction.
A second new m e t h o d is the block mattress. A mattress with concrete
blocks fixed on it is prepared in a factory and made up as a roll. The roll
is then towed to a specially designed vessel and laid on the seabed as a carpet
during slack tide. Some 4 km 2 of block mattresses have been laid. High pro-
ductions can be reached with these two methods, and this was the main
reason for developing them.
Figure 13 illustrates the total quantity of seabed protection produced in
various years in the Netherlands and the cost of three types. The first type
is the traditional willow mattress. The second type is a filter-cloth mattress
with loose ballast. The third type is the fixed (concrete) ballast mattress as
illustrated in Figure 12. As can be observed from Fig. 13, the costs of the
latter become competitive in the case t h a t quantities over 250,000 m 2 are
used. For smaller quantities the initial investment costs per m 2 become too
high.
As can be concluded from this section, scale enlargement has led to the
development of new closure techniques. Traditional hydraulic engineering
insight, although still playing an important role, has had to be gradually
supplemented by a scientific approach. Model techniques played a predo-
m i n a n t role in this development.
 353

69.60 m

Charge mixer
I
Commanding bridge

Ires

MASTIC ASPHALT VESSEL JAN HEIJMANS

4
40 m

Winch

. , f

Anchor cables

Sink;ng

BLOCK MATTRESS LAYING VESSEL DOS I

Fig. 12. Modern techniques for sea bed protection.

 354

m2X I000
- --]

,zso~ t ,~i I
TOTAL QUANTITIES OF SEABED PROTECTION
i , / I .~ !
APPLIED IN THE NETHERLANDS
} / ~ f! ; :,i
5oo,{:7", /' " f .,'X' ~-~ QUANTITIES AI:~OLIED FOR THE
DELTA PROJECT
o ~ - ~ - ' ~ ~ "-' -~
1966 1960 1965 1970 197'5

GUILDERS / m2 ( [ 9 7 5 )
15 r ' T ~ -

I '

COST DEVELOPMENT

SEABED PROTECTION

I
oi ~
1960 1965 1970

GUILDERS/m 2 (1975)
8Or T ] " - ~

60- T
SEABED PROTECTION COST
._ ._. .....
40! ~. ~,~.-~ FILTER~L.OTI"~ PER m2 AS FUNCTION

OF QUANTITY APPLIED

zoO- ' - !

i
0L i
o ~ ~oo 7~o .12x,ooo

Fig. 13. Cost d e v e l o p m e n t of sea b e d p r o t e c t i o n .

THE INCHEON BAY: A BRIEF STUDY

As an illustration of a large potential closure operation in the Republic

of Korea, a case study has been briefly worked out. The location at the
Incheon Bay (between I nc he on and the Han river estuary, see Fig. 14) has
been chosen because of its illustrative value. The case study is n o t related
to any existing project.
 355

•; . ; :i

'
DSiuic~'?:.
.
i~chorqe .

<m~ .... + " ,:!

~c1"rtT~ ,'. ~ ": . BAY (15,0kin 2) :',. i.:;

¸

Freshwoter
supply

;>
J,LY.+.~: ino
FI:.,://I ~I

! ' Novigotlo.
Lock
.:
126° 30'E ::,

0 2 4 6 8 IOkm
I: 250,000
Fig. 14. Situation Incheon Bay.
356

As the main purpose of the studied project will be land reclamation, a

sufficient supply of fresh water is necessary. This water might be conveyed
through a canal connecting Incheon Bay with the Han river. The bay has a
storage area of about 150 km 2 and is connected with the sea mainly at the
west and southeast sides, the channels between the islands are of secondary
importance. Furthermore, the bay is connected with the Han river at the
north side.
The closure of Incheon Bay will thus require several dams as can be ob-
served from Fig. 14:
(a) Small dams across the secondary channels between the southern islands.
(b) A closure dam in the channel to the Han river.
(c) A closure dam across the western bay entrance.
(d) A closure dam across the main southern inlet near Incheon.
If the dams a and b are built first, the bay will be connected to the sea at
the west and the south side through two main inlets. Consequently, the
total discharge will be divided over the two inlets. The boundary between
the influence of the two tidal inlets will be situated around the middle of the
bay.
If the closure dams c and d were built one after the other, the total bay
would have to be filled and emptied through the last tidal inlet. This situation
would lead to a very difficult closure of this last inlet. Moreover the local
and overall morphology in the bay would be seriously affected. The closure
of both inlets will thus have to be carried out simultaneously and this is
therefore assumed in the case study.
Because of its larger dimensions, the closure of the Southern channel near
Incheon is considered in this case study. It is assumed that a storage area of
about 90 km 2 (mean between high and low water) is connected with the
Southern channel. In order to calculate the flow velocities in the closure
gap during various closure stages, a very rough mathematical model was pre-
pared. The model is of a so-called basin storage type and does n o t take into
account horizontal water level gradients in the basin.
Assuming a spring tidal range of 8 m, some closure stages with a gradual
vertical closure m e t h o d as well as with a combination of a vertical and a
horizontal closure m e t h o d were reproduced in this model. Although this
m e t h o d might perhaps be feasible, the closure by means of caissons was n o t
considered in this case study because of its complexity.
Fig. 15 gives the m a x i m u m ebb and flood velocities resulting from the
model computations as a function of the remaining opening (percentage of
the original cross section). This figure is of course comparable with Fig. 7,
although the m a x i m u m velocities in Fig. 15 are much larger than in Fig. 7
because of the larger tidal range. It should be observed that only spring tidal
conditions have been considered.
In the case of a vertical closure method, the m a x i m u m (flood) velocity
will be about 6.5 m/s (in stage IVy) after that, the velocities will decrease
quickly (stage Vv), due to the occurrence of a free overflow situation at ebb
and flood conditions.
 357

Distance ( m )
o 4oo 2ooo
~ - -~ -f- ~ "f" "P- + "P "t" +

-I- 4
0 - + @ + -
- 10

Combined
- 20
J
hot. 8 vert.
u~ closure
- 50
o

+ 4
0
&

-IO
Vertical
-- 20 closure

-50

Closure Closure Gap width Sill level °/o of originol

section
method stage (m) (m to MSL) (36~00 m2 )

0 2400 _ l oo O/o
All 1 ,400 - 20 77 %

Methods 11 1400 - ~0 38 %
l 9
Tn 1400 - 7.5 29 %
A
Combi ned I~IH 50O - 7.5 io %
E Horizontal V~ ,00 -z5 z %
a vet ticol
7 I.~ "~ ]~Vv 1400 -5 z9%
ol ~- % ITr Vert i COI ,~
1400 -3 ~2%
6 / ,,,\t
o , , No ri
x \ x Verticol closure method
.c_ Combined hor;zontol ond vertical
closure method
>, 4
X Ebb
0 Flood
!
¢

0 I i i L i
0 2O 40 6O 8O I00

Closure gop In Cyo of original cross section

F i g . 1 5 . C u r r e n t v e l o c i t i e s as a f u n c t i o n o f t h e c l o s u r e gap.
358

In the case of a horizontal closure m e t h o d in the final closure stages, the

ebb velocities remain limited to 6.5 m/s because of the occurrence of free
overflow. The f lo od velocities, however, increase cont i nuousl y until the
closure of the final gap and reach values of a b o u t 7.5 m/s (stage VH).
The two main problems which are c o n n e c t e d with the occurrence of these
high c u r r e n t velocities are:
(a) the need for very large stones in order to ensure stability in the closure
gap. These stones are rather difficult to handle and a long closure time will
be the consequence.
(b) the scouring de pt h at the upstream and downstream sides of the seabed
p r o t e c t i o n might be very large. This endangers the stability of the whole
structure, especially when the closure operations take a long time.
A very rough estimate of the required stone sizes, together with an estimate
o f the d u r atio n of each closure stage, is presented in Table IV. Wave action is
n o t taken into account.
The main difference in stone sizes between the t w o m e t h o d s is f o u n d in
stage V. It appears f u r t h e r m o r e that the closure with a cableway is much

TABLE IV

Required stone sizes and estimated time schedule

Closure method Closure Stone size Closingequipment Closure duration

stage (kg) (days)

all I 40 barges 40
methods II 150 (5000 m3/day) 180
III 500 35

combined IV H 2000 trucks 145

horizontal VH 3500 (2000 m3/day) 65
and vertical
vertical IVv 2000 cableway 18
Vv 500 (6000 m3/day) 55

* Duration until the mentioned stage.

quicker than with trucks. The total duration of the closure operation ap-
pears to be a b o u t 140 days (43%) longer in the case of a c o m b i n e d horizon-
tal and vertical closure operation.
As m e n t i o n e d before, a long closing time may be very dangerous with
respect to the scouring process on bot h sides of the seabed protection. The
latter has been assumed to have a length of 200 m on each side of the toe of
the dam. This implies t h a t m or e than 700,000 m 2 of seabed p r o t e c t i o n have
to be placed at depths of up to a b o u t 30 m before the start of the closure
operation. F o r this kind of huge surfaces, special techniques have to be de-
veloped (see preceeding section).
Although in the present case the scouring problems will probably be very
 359
Vertical closure mett~od
Combined horizontal and
vet ticol closure mefhod

I00 Constcuct~on of the

seabed protection

~z
80
\
\
\
\
60
\
c
\
o \ TT

40

._c v \

o: 20 \ 15/.

_9.0
(9 \J
i
o 200 400 600 800 I000 12(X)

Time (doys }

t' ~ i I t I
o '/2 ' r'/2 2 2~ 2
Time (years)

Note ' This time schedule does not ~nclude preparatory

works such as construction of coblewoy j etc. - - - -

Fig. 16. Time schedule of closure operations.

limited because of the rocky seabed, some calculations have been carried out
for the case of an erodable sandy seabed.
Using the Table IV time schedule in combination with the velocities pre-
sented in Fig. 15, the m a x i m u m scouring depths at the end of the closure
operation have been computed. It appeared that the maximum scouring depth
in the case of a combined horizontal and vertical closure was twice the depth
reached in the case of a vertical closure. The reason for this large difference is
360

to be found mainly in the relatively long time needed in stage IVH (Table IV).
An increase of the seabed protection length from 200 to some 600 m would
be needed in order to reduce the scouring depths to the same (acceptable)
values as in the case of a vertical closure method. This obviously requires a
very long and expensive operation (see Fig. 16).
A comparison of the time schedule for the two closing methods is shown
in Fig. 16. It may be noted that the vertical closure is accelerating in the final
stages, while the combined closure is slowing down. This proved to be a very
important issue for the scouring process downstream of the seabed protec-
tion.
Concluding, it may be said that in the considered case, mainly because of
the rocky seabed, a combined closure operation will lie around the limit of
feasibility. If a similar closure should be considered on an alluvial, erodable
seabed, huge amounts of seabed protection would have to be laid. The execu-
tion time of a combined closure operation would be very long and would in-
volve considerable stability risks for the dam.
Vertical closure methods, like the cableway discussed, in combination
with large-scale seabed protection production and laying methods, can be
introduced. This would enable a safe execution of even larger scale closures
than the ones already undertaken in the Republic of Korea.

REFERENCES

Agema, J.F., 1974. Final closing the gap of estuary. International Symposium of Engineer-
ing Problems in creating Coastal Industrial Sites. Seoul, 1974.
Breusers, H.N.C., et al., 1967. Closure of estuarine channels in tidal regions. Delft Hydrau-
lics Laboratory Publ. No. 64.
De Graauw, A.F.F. and Pilarczyk, K.W., 1981. Model-prototype conformity of local scour
in non-cohesive sediments beneath overflow-dam. 19th IAHR-Congress, New Delhi,
1981.
Huis in 't Veld, J.C., 1980. Closing tidal basins. Lecture notes, International Course in
Hydraulic Engineering. Delft, The Netherlands.
Van der Meulen, T. and Vinj~, J.J., 1975. Three-dimensional local scour in non-cohesive
sediments. 16th IAHR-Congress. Sao Paulo, 1975.
Visser, Tj and Van Houweninge, G., 1980. Development of the design of the Oosterschelde
Storm Surge Barrier. Symposium on "Hydraulic Aspects of Coastal Structures". Delft,
The Netherlands.
Volker, A., 1974. Tidal land reclamation. International Symposium of Engineering Prob-
lems in Creating Coastal Industrial Sites. Seoul, 1974.