The quay walls of cities like Delft and Amsterdam are sometimes over a hundred years old. Because of this, it takes a lot of effort to keep the canals of older cities safe. In this video, Mart-Jan Hemel, a Research Fellow at AMS Institute, gives insight into his research about the safety and renovation of quay walls. This lecture was organised by Studium Generale and recorded at Theater de Veste in Delft, with Rob Mudde as the host and an introduction by Kenneth Heijns, Managing Director of AMS Institute.
Both practically and aesthetically, the quay walls play a big role in Amsterdam. The canal system is a vital element of the Amsterdam city infrastructure and is also a dominant factor in the unique atmosphere of the inner city.
The canal borders Amsterdam are vertical masonry walls with timber pile foundations. Due to their age and changed conditions, many quay walls are to be considered as sub-standard, and potentially unsafe. Also recent incidents show the importance of taking immediate action on the topic. In short, the goal of this research project is to develop technical solutions to better our understating of the structural and shallow subsurface conditions affecting the behaviour of historical quay walls. This research contributes to the safety and renovation/replacement strategy of the historic quay walls in the city of Amsterdam.
