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As sea levels rise, Rotterdam is a top example of how to live with water
By Chris Bentley
The Maeslant structure is the biggest mobile barrier in the world — picture a pair of steel lattices twice the size of the Eiffel Tower, lying down on either side of the channel connecting the Netherlands’ second-biggest city to the North Sea. The Dutch built the massive gate in the 1990s to protect Rotterdam from a storm surge of up to three meters.
That was back when much of the world still saw climate change and sea-level rise as distant threats. But not the Dutch.
“We were already busy with the climate change before it was worldwide,” says Peter Persoon, an engineer turned tour guide at the barrier. “What we are busy with is the future. What are the circumstances in 2100? That’s why we are preparing our country.”
It’s also why cities around the world are turning to the Dutch for their expertise in living with water, honed over generations.
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