Deltares is a in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

specialising in hydraulic engineering research and consulting, along with

water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificia ...

geotechnics Geotechnical engineering, also known as geotechnics, is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. It uses the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to solve its engineering problems. I ...

, and

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

. The organisation's research mainly focuses on

rivers A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

and

river deltas A river delta is a landform, wikt:archetype#Noun, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition (geology), deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or ...

, coastal regions, and

offshore engineering Offshore geotechnical engineering is a sub-field of geotechnical engineering. It is concerned with foundation design, construction, maintenance and decommissioning for human-made structures in the sea.Dean, p. 1 Oil platforms, artificial island ...

. As of 2020, Deltares employed over 750 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff members from 42 nationalities, located in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

and

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. The

turnover Turnover or turn over may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Turn Over'', a 1988 live album by Japanese band Show-Ya * Turnover (band), an American rock band * "Turnover", a song on Fugazi's 1990 album ''Repeater'' * ''Turnover'', a Japa ...

in 2020 was €112 million.

Areas of expertise

Deltares operations focus on, among other things: *

Water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificia ...

; *

Water safety Water safety refers to the procedures, precautions and policies associated with safety in, on, and around bodies of water, where there is a risk of injury or drowning. It has applications in several occupations, sports and recreational activities. ...

; *

Hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the move ...

; *

Groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

; *

Soil management Soil management is the application of operations, practices, and treatments to protect soil and enhance its performance (such as soil fertility or soil mechanics). It includes soil conservation, soil amendment, and optimal soil health. In agricult ...

; *

Geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

; *

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

; *

Water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

; * River and coastal morphology.

Facilities

In addition to desk study research, Deltares undertakes

physical model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...

research and development of computer applications. For physical model research, Deltares has several wave flumes (including the Delta Flume), wave basins, and lock facilities. Facilities are also available for research on

pumps A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of applications such ...

and

pipelines A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

. For geotechnical research, Deltares provides facilities such as the geocentrifuge, a water and soil flume (for

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

research), and a geotechnical

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as schools ...

History

Deltares was established on January 1, 2008, following the findings of the Wijffels Committee, from the merger of: * GeoDelft * Delft Hydraulics, previously known as the (''Hydraulic Research Laboratory'') * Parts of TNO–Building and Underground * Parts of the specialized services RIZA, RIKZ, and DWW from

Rijkswaterstaat Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the ''Bureau voor den Waterstaat'' and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Ministry ...

. Initially, the name Delta Institute was considered. However, this name had been used until 1992 by another organization: the Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research. This organization is now part of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW).By 2008, the Delft laboratory had become known by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

name ''WL , Delft Hydraulics'', and in an effort to consolidate knowledge with similar institutes, it was merged with other research institutes and sections of Rijkswaterstaat, becoming known by its present name.

References

External links

Deltares

Aankondiging Delta-instituut
(archived) {{coord missing, Netherlands Coastal engineering Civil engineering Hydraulic engineering Delta Works Research institutes in the Netherlands

Areas of expertise

Facilities

History

See also

References

External links