Van Oord, offering innovative solutions for dredging, marine engineering and offshore energy projects (oil, gas and wind), has been reinforcing weak spots along the Noord-Holland coast by using a total of 35.5 million m³ of sand and planting 640,000 m² of marram grass.
The Hondsbossche and Pettemer Sea Defense no longer met current safety standards and was classified as one of the ten weak spots along the Dutch coast in 2004.
To resist a once in 10.000 year superstorm – one of the Dutch government’s safety requirements – the dike would need to be at least 4 meters higher and about 20 meters wider.
The existing infrastructure behind the dike made it impossible to alter it in that way. So the Regional Water Board instead decided to reinforce the coastline by creating broad dunes and beaches.