#sand engine

A windy day on the Zandmotor artificial peninsula near The Hague, The Netherlands, in the wet and chilly summer of 2021

A satellite image timelapse of the "Zandmotor" (Sand Engine), a large project along the Dutch coast with the goal of, once in place, nurishing a large portion of the shore with sand through natural erosion and sedimentation processes. It is thought that this innovative way of supplying a large section of coast with sand will have fewer negative consequences on the local ecosystem. Usually nurishments are very localized and frequent (every 5 to 10 years), continuously disturbing the ecosystem, while this type of nurishment only needs to occur every 30 years.

The peninsula created here measures over one square kilometer, requiring more than 21 million cubic meters of sand to construct. At the end of the timelapse, natural (and intended) erosion spreads the sand along the coast.

Building With Nature