Delft: Kinderdijk and Water Management

Today the Gonzaga In Delft: Sustainable Cities class visited Rotterdam, taking a ferry to Kinderdijk. This area includes large canals and lots of windmills.

These old windmills used the power of the wind to power pumps that take water from the lower canals and lift it into the Let River during low tide. This is because the river runs at sea level, but much of the Netherlands is below sea level. Therefore, while the river doesn’t flood the lowlands, some water does leak through the ground from the river and sea. The historic windmills aren’t used anymore of course; now electric motors power large Archimedes Screws to move the water uphill.

After returning to Rotterdam, the class visited a floating office building. It is a sustainable, modular building made from mass timber and concrete that is floating in the harbor – a floating building can’t flood and could be a strategy for flood-prone cities.